Time Wolf Chronicles: Season One
by TimeWolfSaphira
Summary: Rose and The Doctor find a strange girl from another universe who lives with wolves. Taking her along, they find out that aliens are not the only thing people don't know about, and some humans aren't really pure humans at all. A Doctor Who/ Sherlock crossover, but centers more around D.W. with Season One's guest star being Mycroft.
1. A New Companion

**A/N: Hello fellow readers! Thank you for sparing the time to read my story. This is my first story online, so please be easy on me. Enjoy the first chapter!**

**Chapter One**

**The New Companion**

When Rose Tyler opened the Tardis doors, she expected to step out by Powell Estate. But instead of a busy street in London, Rose stepped out to a lush forest. Trees grew taller than she'd ever seen, and sunlight streamed through the canopy. The ground was soft, thanks to the fallen leaves and the moss that grew all around. She could hear the sound of water lapping nearby.

"Where are we?" Rose asked, turning to look back into the Tardis, "this isn't Powell Estate. Not Even London! I'm even sure that this is nowhere in England!"

Her companion, a Time Lord who whisked her off on adventures through time and space, peered out of the doorway, confused. He glanced around, then went back into his Tardis.

"I was sure I had gotten the coordinates right," he said in his thick, Northern accent. Rose was about to follow, when she heard the snap of a twig. Whirling around, Rose looked for the source of the noise, but only heard footsteps retreating further into the trees.

"Doctor," she called cautiously, back turned towards the doors. She looked around wearily, hoping that they weren't about to be attacked by whatever had made the noise. "I think there's something out there!"

Footsteps hit the grating as the Doctor appeared beside her, sonic screwdriver out and whirring. He swung it left and right, his ice-blue eyes searching. After a few seconds, the Doctor looked at his sonic, reading the scan results.

"Just animals. I think we're on Earth, but I've never seen a place like this before. I can't even get a proper date," the Doctor announced, putting his sonic screwdriver back into an inner pocket of his leather jacket. He started walking forward, gaze flitting along the trees.

"Any civilizations nearby?" Rose asked, following the Time Lord.

"No, but there is a human around here, we just need to find her," the Doctor replied.

"How do you know the human is a she?"

"I just know."

-Line Break-

Hours had passed, and they still haven't found the human. Darkness was beginning to fall around them, the air getting cooler. Rose sat down at the roots of a tree, her back resting against the trunk. Her feet had gotten sore from the long trek, and she wasn't used to uneven terrain. Thankfully, the Doctor stopped as well.

"Where is that little ape?" The Doctor muttered grumpily, "is she deliberately avoiding us?"

"You sure there's anything here?" Rose asked, massaging her legs. "I haven't seen feather or fur since we've landed." Rose's question was answered when a howl ripped through the quiet air, followed by a second one, and a third. Within seconds, about twenty voices were howling a song in the evening.

"Does that answer your question?" the Doctor asked with a grin, peering down at his companion.

"Are... are those… wolves?" Rose asked, standing up. The sound was beautiful. Rose had never heard anything like it before, and she was beginning to wish she did not grow up in a city.

"Yes they are," the Doctor answered quietly, a broad grin still on his face. "About twenty. Quiet large for a pack. Usually there are about ten to fifteen wolves in a single pack. Of course, there are some smaller packs, and then there are the loners." The two became silent as they listened to the wolves howl.

The song seemed to go on forever, but not long after it had begun, one by one, the wolves stopped howling and silence filled the air once again. Though seconds later, owls began hooting, nightingales sang, and the whole forest seemed to come alive with activity.

"That was beautiful," Rose whispered in awe, wishing to hear more of the wolves' song.

"It's always beautiful," a soft voice replied from behind them. The Doctor and Rose turned to see a lanky form of a human crouching in a branch of a tree.

"What were they singing about?" Rose asked quietly, not wanting to scare the person away.

"They had a good hunt today. Winter has finally ended, and spring has begun. The pack managed to survive the harsh cold this year, and new members of the pack have begun to arrive," the person said, keeping her voice soft.

"And your the only human around for miles?" Rose asked.

"As far as I know. These animals never encountered a human before, and stories tell that it was generations ago since humans last lived here."

"Can you tell us what exactly happened? How come you're the only human here?" The Doctor asked, stepping slightly closer to the tree. The figure on the branch tensed a little, but then relaxed and began explaining.

"I'm not really sure what happened here. I was living life as I could. But at the time, we were having a lot of issues around the world. Wars, economy problems, politicians being bone-heads." Rose smiled slightly at the annoyance in the soft voice of the person.

"Anyways, we also had lots of crazy weather. Lots of people blamed it on global warming, but I don't believe in that kind of stuff. The planet already had strange weather already. It was quite hot during the dinosaur era and we did have lots of ice ages, including one major ice age. So, one night I went to bed as usual, and there was a thunderstorm brewing. It was a very humid day, so it wasn't to concerning. Next morning, though, instead of waking up in bed, I found myself sleeping in a tree. Not a single human soul around."

"No humans? How did you survive?" Rose asked, disbelieving that this human could survive without human contact for so long.

"The Pack took me in. The animals here are different from what your used to. For one thing, they can talk like us, although they do their normal sounds too. Another thing, is that during the winter, all the predators that don't hibernate form one large pack, and each takes care of the other. Surprisingly, there are few fights, but there is the occasional argument."

"Interesting," the Doctor said, a thoughtful expression on his face. A cool wind blew around them, chilling Rose slightly, and she yawned.

"You seem tired," the soft voice laughed, "and it's quite late. I'll take you to my den, its not far from here. We can talk more tomorrow." The figure then lead the way, not once leaving the trees, hopping from branch to branch with gracefulness and ease.

"Can we trust her?" Rose asked as she and the Doctor followed.

"Well, she hasn't attacked us, and as far as I know, she has been keeping us away from danger," the Doctor said, easily keeping up with the branch hopping figure up ahead. Rose nodded, but millions of questions still raced around in her sleepy mind.

Soon enough, before Rose could drop from tiredness, they had reached a stone wall where dens where littered. The girl was standing by one of the larger ones, patiently waiting as Rose and the Doctor approached.

"We usually use these dens in the winter, and sleep out under the stars during the warmer weather. But it was going to rain tonight, so you will be sharing a den with me. Nests have already been built for you inside," the girl said.

From the moonlight, Rose could see that the girl looked much like herself, only thinner and more gaunt, and her hair in a bit of a tangle. From the way the moonlight shone in her eyes made them glow with an eerie light.

"What do you use for nests?" The Doctor asked.

"We use fern leaves, moss, molten feathers, loose fur, anything soft we can find," the girl explained, leading the way into the cave, a club-like torch in hand.

The cave was large enough to fit quite a few people inside, and it was comfortably warm. There were several ledges in the cave, three of which had nests built upon them. The girl lead Rose to one of them, and the Doctor to another, while she had taken the one closer to the mouth of the cave. The warmth of the cave, and the softness of the nest made Rose drowsier then she was before, and she fell asleep as soon as she lay down. Sure it wasn't as comfortable as a bed, but it sure beat sleeping on the stone hard, freezing cold floor.

-Line Break-

Rose felt something heavy on her stomach and chest, and something wet and slobbery going across her face. She pushed the something away, feeling a soft furriness. Seconds later, though, the wet slobbery feeling was back.

Blinking her eyes open, she saw a pup standing on her and licking her face. It was gray in color, with a pointed muzzle and white markings. Blue-green eyes stared down at her, and a small tail wagged behind it.

When Rose registered what she saw standing on her, the pup was lifted by a pair of thin arms. Glancing to her left, Rose saw the girl from last night, only her face was shadowed from the cave.

"Sorry about Cinder waking you," the girl said, setting the squirming pup onto the ground. It bounded off quickly, yipping happily. "The little ball of fluff doesn't like it when anyone sleeps in."

Rose waved off the apology, and stretched like a cat. She was a little stiff from the hard ledge she slept on, but she was fine otherwise. Rose sat up, covering a yawn. The girl sat next to her, picking out bits of moss out of Rose's hair.

"Sorry that we couldn't find anything more comfortable for you to sleep on," the girl apologized, pulling out the last bit of moss.

"Its fine," Rose said, stretching again. Her back popped, and Rose relaxed. "I've had worse." The girl nodded and stood up, heading back out of the cave. Rose stood and followed her, squinting as her eyes adjusted to the bright, morning sun, and took in her surroundings.

Predatory animals were lounging around in the warm sunshine, and the younger ones were playing. There were wolves and wild cats lazing in the sun, foxes grooming themselves, pups wrestling with each other, kittens practicing their climbing while a mother or two watched. She saw the Doctor messing with his screwdriver, pushing away Cinder the pup when ever it tried to snatch the silver object. A gray tabby kitten was perched on his shoulders, its fur fluffed up and tail sticking straight out.

"Mew?"

Rose looked down to see a fluffy white kitten gazing up at her with wide green eyes. Rose smiled and knelt down to pet the tiny kitten's head. It started purring so loudly that its whole body vibrated, and sounded like a motor.

Cinder, having given up on trying to snatch the shiny object from the Doctor, bounded playfully towards the other pups, knocking one of them into a large, dozing wolf.

"Watch it," the wolf growled, shoving the pups away with one large paw. Rose was startled to hear the large lupine talk. Sure, the girl told them last night said that the animals could talk, but actually hearing one speak was unnerving.

"That's Fell." Rose looked up to see the girl standing beside her, gazing towards the black wolf, who had moved to a different spot to rest. In her hands, she held a banana leaf. "He's more of a loner, but he has his own small pack. Cinder's one of his pups, born mid-winter. The other is off with the mother."

"How long have you been living here?" Rose asked as the girl sat down next to her. The white kitten had wandered off to join the gray kitten on perching on the Time Lords shoulders.

"Two summers. This will be my third year living here," the girl replied, and presented Rose the banana leaf, which had berries and dried strips of meat on it. "Got you some breakfast. Don't worry about the meat, I cooked it."

"Thanks," Rose said, taking the leaf and popping a few berries into her mouth. Sweet bursts of flavor filled her senses as she ate them. "Don't you ever miss your old home?"

"Yeah, I do. But I don't really mind living here. A lot of the times, I felt like a stranger amongst other people, like I didn't belong with them. Disconnected, in a way," she answered, gaze never leaving the playful pups. "Here, I guess I sort of found a sort of peacefulness in myself. And ever since I moved here, I found out I have a bit of magical blood. The animals have magic themselves, and they've been teaching me how to control my magic. A slow progress, since the animals are taught from a young age, and I'm already a young adult."

"Magic?" Rose asked in surprise, nibbling on a strip of dried meat. She quickly figured out that she should eat the juicy berries to get rid of the dryness of the meat.

"In a way, since I also have to use my knowledge in science. I'm learning shape-shifting, where I need anatomy and physiology and biology to transform, and camouflage, where I use my mind and my aura to blend into the background, become unnoticed," the girl explained. "I'm also learning on how to create illusions, which is the most difficult in my opinion, since I have to be able to fool a majority of the senses. Sight is the easier of the senses to fool, and scent being the hardest since I have to fool the noses of animals, which are far keener then those of a human."

"Wow, I don't think I could do any of that," Rose said, laughing softly. The girl gave Rose a sideways grin.

"Actually, I thought the same. But you'd be surprised at how many people are able to do these things with out consciously knowing they are doing it. Like those people who seem to just not be there, and you don't notice them until your pretty much almost on top of them. They are sub-consciously using a sort of camouflage to blend in with their surroundings. Some people can use it consciously too, like hunters do."

"I never really noticed," Rose said, amazed at what this wild girl knew. Rose got a grin return.

"Not a lot of people do. I learn these sort of things from observing around me. Also, I come from the era of both science and magic," the girl replied with a shrug. There was a comfortable silence as Rose finished her breakfast and the girl watched her Pack. Rose noticed that the Doctor had given up on messing with sonic as he was being used as a climbing post by a lot of kittens.

"Do you want to come with us?" Rose asked suddenly. She couldn't live with the fact that she and the Doctor would leave this girl behind. She needed to be with her own kind, no matter how much she liked living here.

The girl froze momentarily. Her eyes had widened in surprise at the sudden question. Now that the sun was up, Rose could actually take in the girl's appearance. She was thin, yet muscle showed from living it rough. Although she had a gaunt appearance, she looked relatively healthy. Her eyes were a blue-gray shade, but when her pupils were dilated, they were a greenish-hazel. Her blonde hair was slightly messy, and stuck out at odd angles. Her small hands were calloused from climbing the trees and what else, and her feet were bare, but covered with blisters and cuts.

"I think that's a brilliant idea." Both looked up to see the Doctor approaching them, picking up the last kitten that clung to the front of his shirt and setting it down. The kitten scampered off, looking for something else to do.

"Y-you do?" Rose asked in surprise. She learned that the Doctor did not take just anyone along. Perhaps this girl had a potential that the Doctor could see.

"Yes. She's intelligent, swift-footed, strong. I spoke with her last night while you were asleep, Rose. She, like you, did not have an easy life, though her's might have been tougher. Moving from place to place, a life-threatening illness through her teenage years, slight depression, sudden separation from her world. It takes a strong spirit to live through all that and still be cheerful."

"My parents were always supportive. They taught me to keep moving forward, no matter what. And I was inspired by those who lived tougher lives and still strive to do good, to continue living," the girl said, her eyes sad. "And I was upset by how broken the world was."

Another silence fell, but this one was heavy. The girl had her head ducked down , thinking, while the Doctor and Rose watched.

"I-I need some time," the girl said, standing up and walking away. Rose watched her go, feeling a little guilty on setting pressure on the girl. She had lived freely amongst the animals, they had become her family, her pack. And here they were, Rose and the Doctor, who appeared seemingly out of nowhere, and offering her to join them. Rose didn't blame the girl one bit.

-Line Break-

Navigating through the forest wasn't easy, Rose discovered. There were roots sticking out of the ground that could trip her or break her ankle. Animals hid in bushes, and when Rose walked by, they'd burst from the bushes, spooked, and startling Rose. A crow had been following her, and it seemed to be taunting her. Rose was annoyed at first, trying to scare the bird away, then began ignoring it, until it finally flew away to search for a new victim.

It was finally around noon time when Rose found the girl. She was standing at the edge of a lake, skipping rocks. The girl turned around as Rose approached.

"I could hear you coming. You're about as noisy as an injured animal," the girl said, turning back to the lake and skipping another stone.

"Not everyone is used to the forest like you are. Besides, I'm from the city," Rose replied, picking up some smooth stones for herself and joining the girl in skipping the stones.

"That's easy enough to tell. Somewhere 'round London, right?" the girl asked.

"Yep. And you're from America?"

"Right," the girl nodded, "the good old USA. I'm from an area that was close to the city, so I know what the cities are like."

There was a slight pause, where both skipped their last stones. Then they turned and headed back into the forest. Rose followed slightly behind the girl, stepping where she did.

"Have you had enough time to think about our offer?" Rose asked, stepping over a rather large root that seemed to threaten her. In the daylight, Rose noticed, the forest seemed a lot friendlier.

"Yeah. I did," the girl replied, but did not say anything else. Rose bit her lip. Part of her wanted to know if the girl wanted to join them, while another part told her that the girl would answer when she was ready.

Rose didn't notice where the girl was leading her, until they stopped at the place where the Tardis was located. The Doctor was already waiting for them there, leaning against his beloved ship with his arms and legs crossed.

"You're coming with us?" Rose asked in surprise, although she was glad. She didn't have to feel guilty about leaving the girl behind.

"Nah, she said she'll be staying. But its time for us to leave. You did want to visit your mother," the Doctor answered for the girl, who nodded silently. Rose felt upset, but didn't show it. Instead, she gave the girl a hug. She felt her stiffen under the contact, unused to it. Rose drew away and entered the Tardis, but glanced behind her once again. The girl smiled and waved at her.

"Be seeing you later," the Doctor said, ruffling the girl's already messy blonde hair. Then he walked into the Tardis and closed the doors behind him. The girl backed away and watched as the Tardis dematerialized.

-Line Break-

Moments later, the Tardis returned to the same spot. The girl, who had been sitting near the place patiently, awaiting its return, grinned to herself. The Doctor peered out of the doors, and grinned himself when he saw that she was still there.

"Ready?" The Doctor asked.

"Yeah," the girl said, and walked through the double doors. Her smile widened at the interior, and her eyes glowed.

"She's absolutely beautiful," the girl whispered, turning on the spot and taking it all in. She felt the presence of the time-space machine in her mind, which was glowing in happiness. The girl embraced the warm glow, feeling like she finally belonged.

"That she is," the Doctor agreed, nodding, before wandering off to the console. "I didn't catch your name. What is it?"

"Saphira. Can't remember my birth name, so I chose to be called Saphira," the girl replied, following the Time Lord, on hand on the railing.

"Right then Saphira. Welcome aboard the Tardis. Hold on tight, this is going to be a rough ride," the Doctor said, pulling a lever. "Next stop, London!"

Rose was going to surprised about this.

**A/N: Okay, just to clarify things, Saphira is not replacing anyone, nor am I intentionally making her a Mary-sue (if it appears to you that way). This is just the first chapter, and you have not seen all of her yet. This is not going a Doctor/O.C. story (I prefer Doctor/Rose). Pairings isn't until later on, but so far I have Doctor/Rose (as well as others; but: Spoilers!) I'm sorry if it seems like Saphira is a Mary-sue, but if you take a look at our world, there are many people with sad, dark, or poor pasts that still achieved greatness. And none of us are calling them Mary-sues and Gary-stus. Saphira isn't going to be a whiny girl wanting attention, and she will have many difficult obstacles to over come, like many other main characters.**

**Sorry for that lengthy note, but it seems like many people who read my story don't get past the first chapter, and I am guessing it is because of Saphira. Please leave a review, and constructive criticism is welcomed. Flames will be used to roast marshmallows for s'mores, and trolls, go back from whence you came!**


	2. Aliens of London

**Disclaimer: I only own Saphira. Plot and Dialogue belongs to BBC, although I made changes to it :). **

_The moment he had stepped out of the Tardis, the Doctor knew that there was something wrong, and when he and Rose encountered the girl, Saphira, he found out what it was._

_Saphira was surrounded by background radiation. He wondered how this girl moved through the Time Vortex without any assistance. There was one solution, but it didn't fit. She was sent forwards in time, not back._

_When he talked with her while Rose was asleep, he was even more befuddled. Despite living a tough life, she seemed like a normal person. Even she was confused on why it happened to her. She was just a girl living her life, then she was suddenly transported into the future._

_The next day, while Saphira was busy talking to Rose, the Doctor did some scans on her. The results gave more questions than answers. Something or someone had tried erasing her from existence, but apparently, the universe disagreed, sending her away from the danger. She was an anomaly, and he wanted to figure out why._

_The Doctor told Saphira about his discoveries when he had followed her to the lake, minutes before Rose arrived. She was quiet at first, then asked "Why me?". The Doctor, for once, did not have an answer. "We'll find out," he reassured her._

_That was the silent agreement they made. She would travel with them across the universe, and along with the many adventures, they would try and find out why she was needed in the Universe, and why something or someone tried to get rid of her existence._

_Promising that he'll pick her up when he let Rose visit her mother, the Doctor turned and headed back to his Tardis._

"There is a slight change of plan," the Doctor said as he flew the Tardis. "A ship had crashed in the Thames, and I have a bad feeling about it."

"Okay..." Saphira replied, "and why did you pick me up early?"

"Because I didn't know when I would be able to fetch you. Your from a parallel universe, and the gap between your universe and mine was open only for so long. The Tardis told me that the two universes had opened up long enough for Rose and I to get you."

He could tell that she was still confused, but they were both quiet. He landed the Tardis inside a storage room, and slipped out of the Tardis, Saphira following close behind.

The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver, and moved the setting to open locked doors. He pointed the sonic at the door and activated it, then hushed the sonic when it made its loud whirring noise. Saphira snickered softly as the Doctor once again used his sonic to open the door, but was quickly behind the Doctor when they saw where the door led to.

It was a lounge, and several military officials were relaxing and chatting away. When the door had opened, the chatting had immediately stopped and all eyes turned towards the door. After a brief hesitation, the men all sprang up and grabbed their guns, pointing them at the two intruders. The Doctor held his hands up in surrender and grinned at them.

A sudden scream and a crash filled the tense and silent air. Heads turned towards the door leading out into a hallway.

"Defense plan delta!" the Doctor ordered immediately, charging between the men. Saphira followed the Doctor, and the military officials were close behind. The Time Lord briefly wondered if the girl knew what she was getting into, and hoped that she kept her head on straight in situations like these.

The Doctor was startled when Saphira suddenly shot past him, partially transfigured. Her legs had morphed into those of of a wolf, a bushy gray tail grew from her tail bone, her nose and mouth had lengthened into a muzzle, and her ears were now on her head, gray and triangular. He could see her black wolf nose twitching, like an animal on the hunt.

"Don't shoot!" The Doctor warned as the soldiers cocked their guns at the wolf-girl. They reluctantly lowered their guns, just as she skittered into a room. The Doctor followed close behind, and the soldiers took positions around the area.

A young woman, a scientist, was crouching by a wall and shaking. She had a large gash on her head, but it wasn't deep and there was little blood coming from it.

"I thought it was dead," the woman whimpered when the Doctor crouched beside her. Saphira was prowling nearby, sniffing out her prey. The Doctor turned to the soldiers.

"Spread out," he instructed, "tell the perimeter its a lock-down." When the soldiers hesitated, he yelled "do it!" while the woman continued to whimper "it's alive." The soldiers scattered quickly, making lots of noise as they searched for the alien.

"I swear it was dead," the woman gasped.

"Coma, shock, hibernation," the Doctor replied, and he whirled around as clattering noise filled the air, right nearby. "It's still here."

The Doctor went to one side of the room, while Saphira went to the other. A loud squeal made the Doctor duck down on his hands and knees. Saphira had flinched back, her ears flattened against her head and lips drawn back into a snarl.

Peering around one of the counters, the Doctor saw the so-called alien. A pig, that was dressed in a ridiculous space outfit peering around another corner.

"Hello!" the Doctor greeted quietly, but the pig squealed, frightened. It turned and ran away from the Doctor, only to encounter the half-human half-wolf.

Her lips were drawn back, showing sharp, white canine teeth, and a low growl issued from her throat. The bushy gray tail was fluffed straight out, and her eyes, now a golden-amber, blazed.

The pig squealed again, more terrified then before, and scampered past the Doctor, who was still shocked by Saphira. Saphira leapt after the pig, the rest of her transforming; the armor that she wore shifting to fit her new physical appearance. Snapping out of his trance, the Doctor followed.

"Don't hurt it!" he called, and all around the soldiers jumped clear of the wolf as she raced after the pig, ramming into cabinets and sending them toppling over, creating a huge mess. Her jaws snapped up the pig by the scruff of the suit, and she slid to a halt. She sat down, pig wriggling and squealing in her jaws, and her tail wagging, thumping against the ground.

"Good girl," the Doctor praised, sighing in relief that the wolf girl had listened. Her tail wagged harder, and her mouth twitched into the equivalent of a grin. "Now put him down gently."

Saphira lowered her head, setting the trembling pig down. The Doctor approached both wolf and pig, noticing that in her wolf form, Saphira was much bigger than she usually was. She had gotten about two feet taller, and her arms, legs, and body now showed the muscles of the wolf. Saphira looked like a true werewolf.

-Line Break-

After getting the pig safely in the Tardis, the Doctor took Saphira to Powell Estate. He wondered if it would be best for her to wait by the Tardis, since she was still transforming back. She had shrunk down to her normal height, and the armor had shifted back into its original position. Her muzzle and fur had retreated, and she looked as much as she did before. Save for the wolf ears and tail.

"How long will it take you to get back to normal?" the Doctor asked as they waited for Rose, which wasn't very long. She came through the doors quite quickly, as though she where waiting, which she probably was. She grinned when she saw Saphira, who had quickly gotten rid of her wolf ears and tail.

"Alright, so I lied. I had to take a look. And Saphira needed time to say goodbye to her family. She did want to come along," the Doctor said, not pausing for breath as Rose came on the Doctor's other side as the trio looked at the monitor. "The whole crash landing's a fake. I thought so, it's too perfect. I mean, hitting Big Ben? Come on!"

"My mum's here," Rose admitted, and the three heard the door creak shut.

"Oh just what I need," the Doctor said, annoyed, as they turned to look at the doors. Mickey and Jackie were both inside the Tardis, Mickey glaring at the Time Lord and Jackie looking around in shock and disbelief. The Doctor quickly turned back to Rose.

"Don't you dare make this place domestic," he ordered, turning back to the monitor.

"You ruined my life, Doctor. I was a murder suspect because of you," Mickey exclaimed harshly, not noticing the newest addition to the Tardis, who slunk to the other side of the console, still unused to humans.

"See?" the Doctor said huffily, "Domestic!"

"I bet you don't even remember my name!" Mickey declared, stomping up the ramp.

"Rickey," the Doctor said.

"No, its Mickey!" Mickey replied proudly, "I think I know my own name!"

"You _think_ you know your own name?" the Doctor asked incredulously, "How stupid are you?" The bickering males didn't notice Jackie hurry out of the Tardis, but Rose did.

"Mum!" She yelled, darting after her mother, but turned to the two males. "Don't go anywhere. And don't start fight," she warned, heading out the doors, only to come back in seconds later.

"That was a real spaceship?" she asked as she hurried back up the ramp. Saphira moved closer to Rose, while still glancing wearily at Mickey.

"Yep," the Doctor replied, leaning in front of the monitor again.

"So it was all a pack of lies? What is it then? Are they invading?" Rose questioned.

"Funny way of invading," Mickey said, peering over their shoulders, "putting the whole world on Red Alert."

"Good point," the Doctor admitted grudgingly, and once again turned towards the screen. "So, what are they up to?"

-Line Break-

Saphira and Rose were perched on the large pilot seat, chatting away, and the Doctor was doing repairs on his ship. Mickey wandered over to the open grating where the Doctor was.

"What are you doing?" he asked, peering down at the Time Lord.

"Ricky," the Doctor began, speaking around the sonic screwdriver that was between his teeth.

"Mickey..." Mickey corrected again, annoyed.

"Ricky," the Doctor replied, taking his screwdriver out of his mouth. Mickey gave him an annoyed look. The Time Lord ignored the look and continued on.

"If I told you what I was doing to the controls of my frankly magnificent time ship, would you even begin to understand?" he asked.

"I suppose not," Mickey replied after a second's hesitation.

"Well, shut it then," the Doctor said with a grin. Mickey rolled his eyes.

"So where did you get this one then?" He asked, pointing to Saphira.

"Don't insult her, she's got sharp teeth," The Doctor replied as he continued working, not answering the teen's question. Mickey walked off, knowing he wasn't getting answers from the alien.

"Her name's Saphira," Rose supplied, overhearing the conversation. "We, or more like the Doctor, picked her up from a forest. She was living with wolves for nearly three years."

"Oh, so now you got a feral kid on board? A wolf girl!"

Saphira shrunk behind Rose, but her blue-gray eyes glared at Mickey, not taking the feral kid insult lightly.

"Not just wolves. Foxes and wild cats too."

"And it just keeps getting better." Mickey threw his hands in the air in disbelief, shaking his head at the craziness the Doctor dragged into their normal, everyday lives. When he turned back to Rose, he begun a conversation that was too domestic and human for Saphira so she wandered over to where the Doctor was still working on the controls. She sat down at the edge of the opening, and watched as the Doctor fixed his ship. The Time Lord glanced at her, then continued with his work.

A loud zap and an "ah-ha!" from the Doctor made Saphira jump. The Doctor climbed out of the hole, closed the grating, and hurried back to his controls, the wild child right behind him.

"Patched in the radar!" He explained as the four gathered around the monitor. "Looped it back 12 hours so it followed the flight of that spaceship." He tapped the monitor a few times before it began to work.

"That's the spaceship on its way to Earth." He pointed to the white dot that made a curved line towards the sphere that represented Earth, stopping at the center. "See? Except... Hold on..." The first line vanished, and the dot left the Earth, looped through space, and headed back to the Earth.

"It came from Earth in the first place," he explained, "it went up and came back again. Whatever those aliens are, they have been here for a while. The question is, what have they been doing?" He flipped through channels, looking for something that might help.

"How many channels do you get?" Mickey asked, peering over the Doctor and Rose's shoulders.

"The basic packages," the Doctor replied.

"Do you get the sports channels?"

"Yes, I get the football," the Doctor answered, annoyed. "Hold on, I know that lot," he suddenly exclaimed, pointing to the screen.

"_The Government's bring in alien specialists,_" a woman's voice said as people in uniforms walked through a door, "_people who have devoted their lives to studying outer space."_

"UNIT- United Nations Intelligence Task Force. Good people" The Doctor explained.

"Since when was the Military intelligent?" Saphira asked, speaking up for the first time. That earned a laugh from Mickey, a giggle from Rose, and a smirk from the Doctor.

"How do you know 'em?" Rose asked.

"He's worked for them." It was Mickey who replied, having wandered to Rose's other side. The trio looked at him. "I didn't sit on my backside for 12 months. I read up on you, Doctor. In the history books, on the internet, once you look deep enough, you'll find his name. Followed by a list of the dead."

"That's nice. Good boy Rickey, doing your homework!" the Doctor said, grinning sarcastically at the dark skinned male.

"If you know 'em, why don't you go and help?" Rose asked as the screen turned blue.

"Blue screen of doom," Saphira whispered loudly, earning more snickers.

"They wouldn't recognize me. I've changed a lot since the old days" The Doctor replied, grinning and bouncing around the console.

"Ooo, you can change your appearance?" Saphira asked, fully interested.

"Not in the way you think. I'll explain it later," he said.

"Has it got to do with your immortality?"

The Doctor paused, staring at the anomaly child. She cocked her head, blue-gray eyes staring at him in curiosity.

"Rose told me you were 900 years old. Even without that information, I could tell you lived a long difficult life. Your eyes are old, and you seem battle-weary. I came from a difficult time period; I've seen the looks on people's faces when they come from war, and I can tell you did too. Also,your scent carries sorrow and regret," Saphira replied. It was the most she had said since he talked to her in the cave. The Doctor shook his head.

"There are aliens and fake aliens out there, and I want to keep THIS alien out of the mix," he said, pointing to himself, "and Wolf Girl isn't going to make things better."

"You can really smell emotions?" Mickey asked, earning a nod from the girl.

"Yeah, just as well as I can identify every scent you have on your clothing. You should really wash them more often. You stink," Saphira said, her nose scrunched up in disgust. Mickey had the decency to look embarrassed, and Rose hid a smile behind her hand.

"I'm going undercover," the Doctor continued, amused by what Saphira said, "better keep the Tardis out of sight. Ricky, you got a car! You can do some driving." The Doctor said over his shoulder, the other three following behind.

"Where to?" Mickey asked, ignoring the "Ricky" jest.

"The roads are clearing. So let's go look at that spaceship," came the reply as the Doctor opened the Tardis' doors. Only when they did step out, a bright light shone down on them as a helicopter hovered above them, the sounds of blades cutting through the air at high speed identifying it.

"_You down there! Do not move!"_ a man's voice shouted from overhead, amplified by a bullhorn most likely. He continued speaking, but his words were drowned out by the sirens of approaching police cars and a tank or two. Saphira shifted closer to Rose, clearly unnerved by the sudden events and appearance of vehicles and lots of people.

The four glanced around, and Mickey bolted. Police officers and military men surrounded them, and Saphira grabbed both the Doctor and Rose's hands, gripping tightly. People were running, police dogs were barking, and it was chaotic. Rose felt bad for Saphira, first living a peaceful life in the forest, then being thrown into a city and surrounded by law enforcement. Jackie came running out, shouting for Rose, but she was held back by two military men.

"_You will raise your hands above your head,_" the man's voice became clear again, and the trio did as they were told, Saphira reluctantly letting go of their hands.

"Take me to your leader!" the Doctor said happily. The trio were then escorted into a vehicle where a man waited for them inside. The Doctor slid in first, followed by Saphira, and finally Rose. The seating arrangement was so that Saphira was comforted by two familiar people. But she was still tense, her eyes flickering around. She flinched slightly when the vehicle started moving.

"You seem like you've never been a car before," the man seated across from them commented to the unnerved girl. He was dressed in a suit, and held an umbrella on his lap. He watched the trio across from him with mild interest.

"Been a long time since I last been in one," she replied softly, her voice shaking. She shrunk against the Doctor, one hand gripping his and the other gripping Rose's, as if she were afraid they would vanish and leave her in this strange environment. Rose squeezed Saphira's hand in reassurance, and got a quick look of thanks from the wild child.

"Who are you?" the Doctor asked, his blue eyes narrowed, a protective aura around him.

"The better question is, who are your friends, Doctor?" the man asked.

"My companions. Surly you know I travel with companions, since you know my name," the Doctor replied coolly. "Exactly how much do you know about me?"

"Only what history says," the man replied. "An immortal mad man who travels through time and space in a blue box, defeating otherworldly monsters."

"That about sums it up," the Doctor said, nodding. "Now tell us who you are." The man gazed at the three. Rose was glancing between the strange man and the Doctor, who's eyes were focused on the stranger in front of them. Saphira was peering out shyly from where her face was buried in the Doctor's leather jacket. Finally the man spoke, clearly at ease with being in the same car as an alien and his two companions.

"I am Mycroft Holmes, I'm sure you've heard about me. I work in the government," Mycroft said, gaze flitting between the trio.

"Sorry, no," the Doctor said, shrugging, but grinning all the same.

"I don't keep up with politics," Rose said, shrugging slightly.

"Same here," Saphira said, growing slightly more at ease. She could probably smell the man's emotions, and could tell that he meant no harm to them. Her growing confidence made the Doctor relax slightly, and Rose could feel the nervousness she had leave.

"That's too bad," the man said, leaning back in his seat, but his expression remained the same.

"Where are you taking us?" Rose asked, glancing out of the window.

"We're going to 10 Downing Street," the Doctor replied, earning a smile from Mycroft. "Mickey was right. I've visited this planet so many times, and I've been noticed."

"And now, we need you Doctor, the biggest alien expert," Mycroft said.

"I thought the biggest alien expert was Patrick Moore?" Rose asked, her tone light and a grin on her face.

"Apart from him, I'm the biggest expert," the Doctor said, but was grinning too. "Who's Prime Minister now?"

Mycroft didn't answer, as they pulled in at 10 Downing Street. Newscasters were crowding the area, cameras flashing, and Saphira froze, her eyes wide with fear. The Doctor and Rose gave her reassuring looks and quick squeeze of the hand, filing out of the car after Mycroft.

The Doctor grinned and waved to the photographers across the street, while Saphira kept her head low. They walked into 10 Downing Street, Rose grinning in disbelief, and Saphira nervous.

Saphira kept close to Rose as they all waited outside. She noticed a woman walking around, smell of fear and nervousness evident on her, causing Saphira to momentarily forget her own fear. She made eye contact with the woman, and she wandered over just as every expert was escorted into a room and given an identification card. Mycroft held Rose and Saphira back, since they were only companions of the Doctor. The woman approached them.

"You're fearful of something," Saphira said softly, so that only the woman, Rose, and Mycroft heard. The woman gave her a glance, and Saphira's suspicion grew.

"Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North," Harriet said, flashing her identification card. "There's something you need to know." She walked away, Rose and Saphira following behind, and after a moment's thought, Mycroft followed them, not want to face the Doctor's wrath. Harriet led them to an empty area and turned to face the two companions.

"Your friend, he is an alien expert. Am I right?" Harriet asked, and Saphira could definitely smell fear coming off her now. Something had bothered this woman, and Saphira had a feeling they were going to find out what. "He knows about aliens?"

"Why do want to know?" Rose asked softly, and Harriet began sobbing, alarming Mycroft. Rose only comforting the older woman, while Saphira sniffed the air, her senses heightening. Harriet led them upstairs into a meeting room, explaining what she saw, and pulled something out of the closet.

"They turned the body into a suit- a disguise for the thing inside," she said, her voice wavering. Mycroft's eyes had widened in alarm, and Saphira backed away. Only Rose held a calm expression.

"It's all right," Rose reassured the sobbing woman, "we believe you." Saphira nodded in agreement, her senses on high alert.

"This is most concerning," Mycroft breathed, running a hand through his hair. His fingers gripped the handle of his umbrella tightly, his knuckles turning white.

"They must have some serious technology behind this," Rose said, striding across the room, "If we could find it, we could use it." She pulled open the doors to a large closet, and jumped back in alarm when a body fell out. All four gathered around the body in alarm.

"Harriet, for heaven's sake! This has gone beyond a joke!" a voice from behind them said, and a man walked in, "You just cannot wander..." he broke off, seeing the body on the ground.

"That's the Prime Minister!" he said in shock, and Mycroft nodded. Suddenly, Saphira stiffened, red fur beginning to appear on her pale skin.

"Oh..." a female voice said and a woman with a portly figure walked in. "Has someone been naughty?" Her gaze flickered over the group, her smile sweet but her eyes dark. She shut the door behind her, trapping them all inside.

"That's not possible," the man said, nervousness filling his scent. "He left this afternoon." He turned to look at the woman standing in front of the door. "The prime minister left, he was driven away!"

"And who told you that?" the woman asked, wandering forward. Her voice was as sickly sweet as her smile. "Hmmm?" She put her bag down. "Me!" The group backed up, but the man still stood there.

The woman brushed back her bangs and pulled on a zipper that was hidden beneath. A loud whirring noise filled the air and bright blueish-white light came from within. The group of humans watched with wide eyes as the portly lady became a towering green monster, pulling off the human body like a suit. A collar was around her neck, and her eyes blinked, but her lids went sideways. Long claws were on her hands.

The monster roared and caught the man who was still close to her by the throat. She slammed him against the wall and began chocking him. The others watched horrified, unable to do anything. Except for one person.

"_LEAVE HIM ALONE!"_

**A/N: And I leave you with a cliffy. So nice of me huh? But you should have expected something like this. Please leave a review, and constructive criticism is welcomed. Flames will be used to roast marshmallows for s'mores, and trolls, go back from whence you came!**


	3. World War 3

Chapter Three

World War III

"_LEAVE HIM ALONE!"_

Rose and the others jumped as something red flashed by them and slam into the green monster. Both red and green creatures slammed against the wall, the red creature jumping back, standing protectively in front of the humans.

While Harriet and Mycroft helped the man up, Rose got a good look at the red creature. It was human in shape, yet it looked so much like a fox. Large, red ears; sharp, tapered muzzle; large, bushy red tail with a white tip at the end; and yet Rose knew who it was.

Saphira growled as the green alien began rising to its feet. Her lips were drawn back to reveal needle sharp teeth, and her now brown eyes blazed with anger. Her back was arched, fur along her spine puffed up.

"Such a naughty little girl," the alien gurgled, its voice sounding bubbly. It raised its clawed hand to strike down at the girl turned fox, when electricity started sparking and electrocuting the alien.

"Run!" Saphira barked, her body poised to jump. Rose gave her a quick nod as Harriet, Mycroft, and the man ran out of the room quickly, followed behind by Rose and Saphira, who was still transformed. The group of four humans and one humanoid fox fled, but Harriet paused.

"No wait! They're still in there- the emergency protocols! We need them!" she shouted, turning and running back, despite the warning shouts of the others.

Saphira followed Harriet, just as the green alien, no longer being electrocuted, came charging after them. Harriet screamed and Saphira rounded her back towards the others, like a sheep dog would do to sheep, occasionally looking back and snapping her teeth at the alien as it chased them.

Rose shut a door behind them as they ran, but it was easily knocked down by the alien. They ran into another room, and down more hallways. They passed the lift just as it opened, revealing the Doctor, providing a distraction. The alien paused looking from the Doctor to the group.

"Hello!" the Doctor said cheerfully, sonicing the elevator while the group dashed away. The alien stared at the lift as the doors closed, then chased the terrified group once again. The group ran into a room, which ended up being a dead end for them.

"Hide!" Rose instructed, crouching behind drawers with Saphira. They both heard the others hide themselves away, and they all waited in tense silence. They did not have to wait long as the bubbly, gurgling voice of the alien filled the silence.

"Oh, such fun!" it (she?) gurgled. "Little human children! Where are you?" Rose and Saphira heard the alien come closer, fully in the room now.

"Sweet little humeykins. Come to me! Let me kiss you better. Kiss you with my big, green lips." Saphira shuddered in disgust and Rose closed her eyes. She darted behind a curtain as the alien had it back turned, and Saphira tensed, ready to pounce.

"My brothers!" the alien suddenly trilled, and they heard two more entering the room.

"Happy hunting?" one male alien asked.

"So much fun!" the female trilled. "The more you prolong it, the more they stink!"

"Sweat and fear," the second male gurgled.

"I can smell an old girl," the first male said, "stale perfume and brittle bones."

"And two men, one so young and the other older," the second male chimed in. They were purposely prolonging it to build up their fear.

"And two ripe youngsters," the female concluded, "all hormones and adrenalin. Fresh enough to bend before they snap!"

The female alien pulled back the curtain Rose was hiding behind, just as Saphira lept out of her hiding place with a cry of fury. Her claws scraped the wood of the cabinet she perched upon, her fur puffed out and lips drawn back into a snarl.

"No!" Harriet cried, coming out from her own hiding place, "take me first! Take me!" The man and Mycroft both came out of their hiding places, hoping to distract the aliens themselves.

Just as the aliens rounded on Harriet, the door burst open. The Doctor came in with a fire hydrant in hand, and sprayed the three aliens.

"Out!" he shouted, pausing momentarily "With me!" Rose flung the curtain she had hid behind on the female alien, and Saphira manged to claw both male aliens as she leapt past. The group five stood behind the Doctor as he continued to spray the aliens.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked Harriet and the man that only Harriet seemed to know.

"Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North," Harriet answered quickly.

"Indra Ganesh, Junior Secretary for Ministry of Defense," Indra added.

"Nice to meet you," the Doctor said.

"Likewise," came the answer from both as the Doctor sprayed the aliens yet again. When the fire hydrant became empty the group of six fled the room, slamming the door behind them.

"Head for the Cabinet Rooms!" The Doctor instructed, charging past them and leading the way.

"The emergency protocols are in there," Harriet said as they darted after the Time Lord. Saphira pushed Mycroft on as he began slowing down, not used to so much running. "Instructions for alien invasions are in there."

"Harriet Jones, I like you," the Doctor said, without a pause.

"I like you too," Harriet returned as the ran down multiple hallways. They returned to the room where the prime minister was still lying on the ground, and the Doctor sonicked a door open, ushering the group inside. Harriet ran for the emergency protocols, and the Doctor grabbed a bottle of wine.

"Move any closer, and I will triplicate the flammability of this alcohol," the Doctor warned, holding his sonic close to the bottle, "We'll all go up, so back off." Mycroft was leaning against Indra, who supported him, and Harriet, Saphira, and Rose stood behind the Doctor. The aliens backed off, and the Doctor lowered the alcohol and his sonic.

"Right then. Question time! Who exactly are the Slitheen?" he asked.

"They're aliens," Harriet supplied, holding the red box close.

"Yes, I got that," the Doctor replied, nodding.

"Who are you if not human?" one of the males asked.

"Who's not human?" Indra asked.

"He's not human," Rose answered, alarming both Harriet and Indra.

"He's not a human?"

"Can I have a bit of hush?" The Doctor asked Indra, who apologized. He turned back to the aliens. "What's the plan?"

"But he's got a northern accent," Harriet whispered.

"Lot's of planets have a north," Rose answered, earning a "Hush!" from the Doctor.

"Come on!" he said, raising both sonic and alcohol again "you have a spaceship hidden in the North Sea, its transmitting a signal. You've murdered your way up and took over the government. What for? Invasion?"

"Why would we invade this forsaken rock?" a male Slitheen asked.

"Something's brought the Slitheen race here. What is it?" That earned laughter from the three Slitheen.

"The Slitheen race? The Slitheen is not our species," the male Slitheen replied, "Slitheen is our surname. Jocrassa Fel Fotch Pasameer-Day-Slitheen at your service."

"So your family?"

"A family business," Jocrassa replied.

"Then your out to make a profit,"the Doctor realized. "How can you do that on a forsaken rock?" The Slitheen growled and gurgled.

"Uh, excuse me. Your device will do what? Triplicate the flammability?" the unnamed male Slitheen asked.

"That what I said? Yes."

"You're making it up!"

"Oh well, nice try," the Doctor shrugged, then held the alcohol to Harriet. "Harriet, have a drink. You're gonna need it."

"You pass it to your left first," Harriet said.

"Sorry," the Doctor replied, giving the bottle to Rose.

"Doctor, the history of the Cabinet Room," Mycroft supplied as the Slitheen moved closer.

"Ah, good point. Interesting bit of history, Downing Street. 2,000 years ago, this was all marshland. 1730, it was occupied by a Mr. Chicken. He was a nice man. 1796, this was made a Cabinet Room." The Slitheen were closing in, but the Doctor continued on with his lecture.

"If the Cabinet's in session and in danger, these are the four safest walls in all of Great Britain." The Doctor lifted a small metal door on the side. "End of lesson." He pressed a button, and steel doors clamped shut all around.

"Installed in 1991. Three inches of steel lining every single wall. They'll never get in."

"And how do we get out?" Rose asked looking around, bottle still in her grip.

"Ah."

"I never thought aliens ever existed," Mycroft said as the group moved throughout the room. "Now I now they are real." He laughed softly. "My brother would never believe a word. He'll claim I've been hallucinating."

"He's not very open minded then, is he?" Saphira asked. She had returned to normal, and was perched in a chair. She was less nervous now, though she was still a bit wary. Mycroft laughed.

"No, he believes everything has to have logic to it. Aliens and outer space are nothing but a waste in his opinion."

"Well, he's missing out then, isn't he?" The Doctor said, grinning. Then he clapped his hands together. "Right then, what have we got then? Any terminals?"

"Nope, this place is antique," Rose said, "Why didn't they use the prime minster as a disguise?"

"He's too slim. They're big ol' beasts. They need to fit inside big humans."

"They're about eight feet big!" Rose exclaimed. "How do they squeeze inside?"

"Does it have to do with that collar around their necks?" Saphira asked.

"Exactly. That is a compression field. It shrinks them allow them to squeeze in."

"And that causes a lot of gas?" Saphira cocked her head, watching the Time Lord pace around the room.

"It the exchange," the Doctor agreed, sonicking one of the steel linings.

"Wish I had a compression field to make me smaller," Rose said, coming to stand next to Saphira.

"Excuse me, people have died today. This is not the time for making jokes," Harriet chided. She was flipping through the papers of the emergency protocols, Indra next to her.

"Sorry," Rose apologized, "you get used to this stuff if you're friends with him." She nodded towards the Time Lord.

"Well that's a strange friendship."

"Harriet Jones. I've heard that name before," the Doctor said, pacing behind her. "Harriet Jones. You're not famous are you?"

"Hardly," Harriet replied.

"Rings a bell. Harriet Jones."

"Lifelong backbencher, I'm afraid. Fat lot of use I'm being now. The Protocols are redundant. The people they list here that could help are all dead downstairs."

"Hasn't it got any defense codes?" Rose asked, coming to stand next to Indra, "Couldn't we launch a nuclear bomb at them?"

"You're a very violent young woman," Harriet said, staring at Rose.

"I'm serious! We could!"

"Nuclear strikes need a release code, but its kept by the UN," Indra replied.

"Say that again," the Doctor said, coming over to stand by Harriet.

"What?"

"Anything."

"Well, the British Isles can't gain access to atomic weapons without a special resolution from the UN."

"Like that's ever stopped them," Rose laughed.

"Exactly. I voted against them," Harriet agreed. "The codes have been taken from the government and given to the UN. Is that important?"

"Everything is important," the Doctor replied.

"If we only knew what these Slitheen wanted," Mycroft said, sitting down and leaning back against the chair.

"What DO they want?" Rose agreed.

"They did say that they didn't want to invade this planet," Saphira supplied.

"And its only one family," the Doctor said, agreeing. "They're out to make money, so they want to use something. Something here on Earth. A kind of asset."

"Gold? Water? Oil?" Indra asked.

"Doubt it," Saphira answered as they watched the Doctor. "They could get those off any other planet in this wide universe."

"You lot are good at this," the Doctor complimented. "Harriet Jones. Why do I know that name?" A loud beeping noise interrupted them.

"Oh, that's me," Rose said, pulling out her mobile.

"How did you get a signal?" Mycroft asked, leaning forward in interest.

"He zapped it. Superphone. Can call anywhere in time and space."

"Then you can phone for help!" Harriet said to the Doctor, "you must have contacts."

"Yeah, and they're all dead downstairs."

"It's Mickey."

"Oh, tell your stupid boyfriend we're busy."

"Yeah, he's not so stupid after all," Rose replied, showing the Doctor a picture on her mobile.

Rose was on the phone with Mickey while the others watched. The Doctor snatched it out of her hand and held it to his ear.

"Is that Ricky? Shut up and go to your computer." The others couldn't here what was being said, but they could guess when the Doctor spoke again.

"Mickey the idiot. I just might choke before I finish this sentence, but I need your help." He place the phone on the table and the group gathered around.

"_It says password,"_ came Mickey's voice over the mobile.

"Buffalo. Two Fs, one L," the Doctor replied. They heard Mickey explain the website to Jackie.

"_They've kept us in the dark."_

"Mickey, you were born in the dark," the Doctor said, earning an elbow in the ribs from Saphira and a "leave him alone" from Rose.

"_Thank you. Password?"_

"Just repeat it every time." The Doctor then started pacing around, while Harriet handed Rose, Indra and Mycroft glasses of wine. "Big Ben. Why did the Slitheen hit Big Ben?"

"You said it was to gather all the experts. To kill them," Harriet answered, handing the Doctor a glass.

"That lot would have gathered for a weather balloon," the Doctor replied, accepting the glass, "you don't have to crash land in the middle of London."

"The Slitheen are hiding, but then they put the planet on red alert. Why?" Rose asked.

"_Oh listen to her!"_ came Jackie's voice over the phone.

"At least I'm trying!" Rose protested.

"_Well I've got a question. Ever since that man walked into our lives, I've been attacked on the streets. I've had creatures from the pits of hell walking around in my living room, and had my daughter disappear off the face of the Earth."_

"I told you what happened."

"_I'm talking to him! Cause I've seen this life of yours Doctor. Maybe you get off it and think it's clever and smart, but you tell me. Just answer me this. Is my daughter safe?"_

"I'm fine."

"_Is she safe? Can you promise me that? And that girl who was also with you. What about her family?"_

"My family vanished. I joined the Doctor to find out what happened to them," Saphira answered, slightly touched that Rose's mum was concerned about her even though they never properly met.

The Doctor remained quite, staring at the mobile. His gaze flickered upwards to Rose when Jackie demanded an answer.

"_We're in._" Mickey's voice returned on the mobile and the Doctor jumped back into action.

"Now then. On the left at the top, there's an icon- little concentric circles. Click on that!"

"_What is it?"_ Mickey asked as a noise filled the room from the small phone.

"A spaceship from the Slitheen is in the North Sea and its transmitting that signal," the Doctor replied. "Now hush. Let me work out what it says."

"_He'll have to answer me one day,_" they heard Jackie say.

"Some sort of message."

"Saying what?" Rose asked.

"I don't know. Its in a loop, it keeps repeating." They heard a buzzing sound.

"Hush!" the Doctor snapped.

"_That's not me. Go and check who it is."_

"_It's three o'clock in the morning."_

"_Well, go tell them that."_

"It's beaming out to space. Who's it for?"

"Others of their kind?" Saphira asked.

"_They've found us!"_ Mickey interrupted.

"Mickey, I need that signal," the Doctor ordered, but Rose shouted into the mobile.

"Mum! Just get out! Get out!

"_We can't. Its by the front door."_ There was a moment's silence then _"It's unmasking. It's gonna kill us."_

"There must be some way of stopping them!" Harriet shouted, turning to the Doctor "you're supposed to be the expert! Think of something!"

"I'm trying!" the Doctor replied.

"_I'll take it on_" they heard Mickey tell Jackie_ "you just run, Jackie. Don't look back, just run!"_

The Doctor backed away from the table, and all eyes focused on the Time Lord.

"That's my mother," Rose reminded him. The Doctor looked at her, then leapt back into action.

"Right, if we're going to beat them, we'll have to find their weakness. We'll know once we find out where they are from. Which planet." He paced around the room. "Their basic shape narrows it down to 5,000 planets within traveling distance. What else do we know about them? Information!"

"They're green!" Rose said at the same time Saphira said "Acute smelling."

"Narrows it down."

"Smell adrenalin and hormones," Mycroft added.

"Narrows it."

"The pig. That technology we found inside it!" Saphira said.

"Narrows it."

"The spaceship in the Thames. You said they use slipstream engines," Rose recalled.

"Narrows it down."

There was a screech from the phone and Mickey yelled _"it's getting in!"_

"They hunt like its a ritual," Indra said.

"Narrows it down."

"Wait a minute," Harriet said, remembering something, "When they fart, if you'll pardon the word, it doesn't smell like a fart, if you'll pardon the word, it's more like..."

"Bad breath!" Rose and Saphira said together.

"Calcium decay! Now that narrows it down!" the Doctor shouted.

"We're getting there mum!" Rose called to the phone.

"_To late!_"Mickey shouted.

"Calcium Phosphate. Organic Calcium. Creatures made of living calcium," the Doctor summarized, pacing to the other side of the table. "What else, what else? Hyphenated surname. That narrows it down to one planet." The Doctor was getting excited, and he shouted the name of the planet: "Raxacoricofallapatorius!"

"_Great. Now we can write 'em a letter,_" Mickey said sarcastically. The Doctor leapt closer to the phone.

"Get into the kitchen!" he ordered. They heard shouts on the phone and Jackie shouting _"It's gonna rip us apart!"_

"Calcium, weakened by the compression field. Acetic acid. Vinegar!" The Doctor shouted.

"Just like Hannibal!" Harriet said.

"Just like Hannibal!" the Doctor agreed. "Got any vinegar?"

"_How should I know?"_ Mickey asked.

"It's your kitchen," Saphira and the Doctor both pointed out.

"Cupboard by the sink, middle shelf" Rose supplied.

"_What do you need?_" Jackie asked.

"Anything with vinegar!"The Doctor said.

"_Gherkins! Yeah! Pickled onions! Pickled eggs!"_ Jackie shouted. Saphira made a disgusted look.

"You kissed this guy?" she asked.

"Not anymore," Rose replied. A loud bang and screeching noise came from the phone. Then followed by a explosion. The group sighed in relief.

"Hannibal?" Rose asked.

"It is said that Hannibal crossed the Alps by dissolving boulders with vinegar," Mycroft explained.

"Oh... well, there you go then," Rose said as all the adults lifted their glass of wine and drank.

"_Listen to this"_ Mickey's voice came back, and all gathered to listen.

"_Our inspectors have searched the sky above our heads, and they have found massive weapons of destruction. Capable of being deployed within 45 seconds._"

"What?"

"_Our technicians can baffle the alien probes, but not for long. We are facing extinction, unless we strike first."_

"_The United Kingdom stands directly beneath the belly of the mother ship. I beg the United Nations, pass an emergency resolution. Give us the access codes. A nuclear strike at the heart of the beast is our only chance of survival, because... from this moment on...it is my solemn duty to inform you...Planet Earth is at war."_

"He's making it up. There's no weapons. There's no threat. He's just invented it," the Doctor said, pacing yet again.

"Do you think they'll believe him?" Indra asked.

"They did last time," Rose said.

"The Slitheen want the whole world panicking," the Doctor said. "Because you lot, you get scared. They want you to lash out."

"They release the codes," Rose added.

"And the Slitheen go nuclear."

"But why?" Harriet asked. The Doctor glanced at her, and pressed the button to open the steel doors. Three of the Slitheen stood outside.

"You get the codes, release the missiles- but not into space, 'cause there's nothing there. You attack every other country on Earth. They retaliate, fight back. World War Three. Whole planet gets nuked." The woman from before walked forward as the Doctor spoke.

"And we'll just sit through it safe in our spaceship parked in the Thames," she said. "Not crashed, just parked. Only two minutes away!"

"But you'll destroy this beautiful place! What for?" Harriet asked.

"Profit," the Doctor answered. "The signal beaming into space is an advert."

"The sale of the century. We reduce the Earth to molten slag, then sell it. Piece by piece," the woman said, greedy gleam in her eyes. "Radioactive chunks, capable of powering every cut-price starliner and budget cargo ship. There's a recession out there, Doctor. People are buying cheap. This rock becomes raw fuel."

"At the cost of five billion lives," the Doctor said.

"Bargain," the woman sneered.

"I give you a choice," the Doctor warned. "Leave this planet, or I'll stop you." The woman and the Slitheen laughed.

"What?" she sneered, "You? Trapped in your box?

"Yes. Me." The Doctor closed the steel doors again, eyes never leaving the woman's as he stared coldly at her.

"_Alright Doctor. I'm not saying I trust you, but there must be something you can do,"_ Jackie said as they all waited.

"If we fermented the port, we'd make acetic acid." Harriet suggested.

"Mickey, any luck?" Rose asked.

"_There's loads of emergency numbers, but everyone's on voicemail,"_ Mickey replied.

"Voicemail dooms us all," Harriet said sadly.

"We have to get out of here," Indra said, examining the doors.

"There is a way, isn't there Doctor?" Mycroft asked, staring at the pensive Time Lord.

"There's always been a way out," the Doctor agreed.

"Then why don't we use it?" Saphira asked.

"Because I can't guarantee Rose's safety" the Doctor explained, leaning his hands on the table.

"_Don't you dare!"_ Jackie warned, _"Whatever it is, don't you dare!"_

"That's the problem. If I don't dare, everyone dies."

"Do it." The Doctor looked up at Rose. Her face was set and determined, but her eyes held fear. Saphira joined Rose, nodding in agreement.

"You don't even know what it is," the Doctor said. "You'd just let me?"

"Yeah." The Doctor stared at Rose, unbelieving.

"_Please, Doctor. She's my daughter. She's just a kid."_ Jackie begged.

"You think I don't know that?" the Doctor asked, "cause this is my life, Jackie. It's not fun or smart. It's standing up and making a decision because nobody else will.

"Then what are you waiting for?" Rose asked.

"I could save the world but loose you," the Doctor replied softly. "Both of you," he added, nodding towards Saphira. Silence filled the room as they stared at each other.

"Except, it's not your decision, Doctor," Harriet said, coming forward. "It's mine."

"_And who the hell are you?"_ Jackie asked rather rudely.

"Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North," Harriet replied. "The only elected representative in this room, chosen by the people for the people. And on the behalf of the people, I command you... do it."

The Doctor grinned, and his two companions reflected the grin on their faces. He quickly grabbed the protocols.

"How do we get out?" Rose asked, both her and Saphira jumped up onto the table.

"We don't. We stay here," the Doctor replied, pulling out a folder and opening it. He flipped through the papers, then turned to the mobile.

"Use the 'Buffalo' password. It overrides everything," he instructed Mickey.

"_What are you doing?"_ they heard Jackie ask.

"_Hacking into the Royal Navy. We're in. Here it is- HMS Taurean, Trafalgar Class submarine, then miles off the coast of Plymouth."_

"Right. Select a missile."

"_We can't go nuclear. We don't have the defense codes!"_

"We don't need a nuclear missile. All we need is an ordinary missile. What's the first category?"

"_Sub Harpoon, UGM-84A._"

"That's the one. Select. Are you ready for this?"

"_Yeah."_

"Mickey the idiot," the Doctor said, backing away from the table, "the world is in your hands. Fire."

"How solid are these?" Harriet asked, going towards one of the steel doors.

"Not solid enough," Mycroft replied. "They were built for a short-ranged attack. Not something as big as a missile."

"Alright," Rose said, jumping off the table and hurrying towards a door, "Now I'M making the decision. I'm not gonna die. We're going to ride this one out." Saphira caught on quickly, hurrying to Rose's side.

"Right! People can survive earthquakes by standing under a door frame, like this one," Saphira added. "A small but strong cupboard. We can all squeeze in."

"Come and help us!" Mycroft, Indra, and Harriet hurried over to help clear out the cupboard.

"_It's on radar!"_ Mickey shouted _"counter the defense 556."_

"Stop them from intercepting it!" the Doctor ordered.

"_I'm doing it now,"_ Mickey replied.

"Good boy!"

"_556 neutralized,"_ they heard Mickey say, as the Doctor snatched up the phone and walked to the cleared out cupboard. They all huddled into the cupboard, grabbing hold of each other's hands.

"Nice knowing you all," Harriet said.

"Likewise," they replied. Then the missile hit.

The building shook in the explosion, and the group huddled closer, holding tightly to each other as the cupboard rocked in the explosion.

When everything settled down, the group clambered out of the debris. The room they were in had kept them safe from the explosion.

"Made in Britain!" Harriet said, as an officer hurried over, asking if they were alright.

"Harriet Jones. MP for Flydale North," Harriet replied, "I want you to contact the UN. Tell the ambassadors the crisis is over. They can step down." The officer darted off. "Someone's got a hell of a job sorting this lot out!" Then she realized something. "We haven't got a prime minister!"

"You should have a go," the Doctor suggested.

"Me?" Harriet asked, laughing. "I'm only a backbencher!"

"I'll support you," Indra said immediately.

"And so will I," Mycroft added.

"I'd vote for you," Rose said, and Saphira nodded in agreement.

"Now don't be silly," Harriet chided. "Look, I'd better go and see if I can help. Hang on!" She hurried towards the crowd of people, Indra following behind.

Mycroft watched them before turning to the other three.

"Thank you, Doctor. You have saved all of us again. I do hope we see each other again. Now, I have business to do." With that, he walked off, leaving the traveling trio behind. They followed at a slower pace, grinning at each other.

"I thought I knew the name," the Doctor said as they left. "Harriet Jones." They stood back and watched Harriet reassure everyone that the Earth was safe. "Future prime minister. Elected for three successive terms. The architect of Britain's Golden Age."

After a quick meal with Jackie (Saphira had persuaded the Doctor with the promise of a banana milkshake she'd make) the trio returned to the Tardis.

Saphira sat in the Tardis as Rose said her goodbyes. She was more relaxed now, listening to the Tardis' humming. It soothed her, and she was glad to finally have a place where she belonged.


	4. Dalek

Chapter Four

Dalek

_Camelot, England Year Unknown_

"I have taught you well, Wolf of the Stars."

Saphira Evans knelt on the wooden floor of the hut, holding the hand of a dying old man. This man was Merlin, the well known sorcerer of Camelot. After tumbling out of the Tardis while it was in flight in the Time Vortex, Saphira wound up apprenticed by Merlin while she waited for the Doctor to return.

"What shall I do now?" she asked, the hood of her cloak hiding her face. "The Doctor still hasn't found me."

"Be patient, Wolf, you will soon be reunited with him and Rose," Merlin reassured her, patting her flawless hands with his own wrinkled ones. Then he sighed.

"You have learned so much in these thirty years you have been here, yet you are not ready," he said, "my spirit and soul will leave soon, but I shed the rest on my knowledge to you." Before Saphira could say a word, Merlin placed his hands on her temples, and a surge of energy passed into her.

Saphira recoiled as pieces of information flooded into her brain, overwhelming her. Knowledge of magic she still did not know planted itself in her mind, like it was always there. It was painful, and a bright, white light shone from her eyes, which she squeezed shut.

When the pain faded into a throbbing sensation, Saphira stood up shakily, and walked back towards the bed.

"What was that for?" She asked, rubbing her head, but received no answer. She looked down and saw that Merlin had moved on, his eyes closed and his chest rising no more with breath. His hands were folded on his stomach, and he looked as though he only slept.

"Let me help."

Saphira whirled around, her cloak fluttering around her ankles. A woman stood by the now open door, candlelight showing only her face. It was a kind face, curtained by blond, bouncy curls.

"Who are you?" Saphira asked, lifting her hand. A ball of orange and yellow flames appeared in her hand, illuminating her own face, and her hood shadowing it at the same time.

"My name's River Song. I come from your future, Auntie," River said, grinning, completely unfazed by the looming threat of being scorched by a fireball.

"If you are from my future, why are you here?" Saphira asked, lowering her hand slightly. "You could disrupt the time-lines."

"On the contrariety, dear Aunt. I needed to be here to close a Time Loop. If you stay here, you will never meet me," River replied.

"The Doctor will come for me," Saphira stated, turning back towards Merlin's body.

"Actually, you will go to him. But after we give your mentor the funeral he deserves," River said, coming to stand next to Saphira.

"How exactly do I do that?" she asked "and who exactly are you?" Rive smirked.

"Spoilers!"

After burning Merlin's body, just as he wanted, Saphira returned to the hut with River following close behind. She began packing everything into the bag River gave her, which was enhanced by Time Lord technology, meaning it was bigger on the inside. River helped her, and the two managed to get everything packed quickly. All the while, Saphira's head continued to throb with a headache.

"Now, dear Auntie, it is time that we depart," River said as they stood outside of the hut. She took a leather wrist-strap out of her pocket. It matched the one that she wore on her wrist.

"This is a Vortex Manipulator that my dear husband managed to fetch for me. Such a flirt, that man. Drives your father and husband up the wall," River explained as she put the VM on Saphira's wrist.

"Father? Husband?" Saphira asked.

"Oops! Spoilers!" River said, a charming smile on her face, then began fiddling around with the device. "Now, I've set the coordinates you had given me- or will give me from your point of view- to the Doctor's location. And this," she pulled out a book. Its cover mimicked the Tardis' disguise. "Is a journal to keep track of your adventures. And so that we know where we currently are with each other. No accidentally giving out spoilers."

Saphira carefully took the book from River. "When will I see you again?" she asked.

"Not for a long time," River replied, "but I will see you shortly! Farewell dear Aunt! And do keep an eye on everyone!" With that, River hit the button on her Vortex Manipulator and vanished in a flash of light.

Saphira blinked at the spot where the woman who claimed to be her niece had stood. "This is what I gotten myself into when I joined the Doctor. Might as well live with it." She pressed the button on her own VM and was yanked forward in time.

_Underground Alien Museum, Utah. Year 2012_

The museum was quiet, as per usual, and dimly lit. Rows upon rows of anything alien was stored inside glass containers. There was no dust anywhere, suggesting there were people down here.

A loud whooshing noise filled the stale air, and a breeze blew from nowhere. A blue police box materialized in between two of the exhibits.

The Doctor stepped out the Tardis, looking around the new area.

"So what is it? What's wrong," the Doctor's companion, Rose, asked, following behind the Doctor. She glanced around the area herself.

"Some kind of signal, drawing us off course," the Doctor said in his Northern accent.

"But we're supposed to be rescuing Saphira!" Rose protested, only to leap sideways as a person appeared in a flash of light right next to her.

"Oh gosh, that's a killer," the person said, rotating her shoulders and pulling down her hood.

"Oh! Saphira!" Rose exclaimed, hugging the woman tight. Surprisingly, she returned the hug instead of tensing up like she usually did.

"How did you find us?" The Doctor asked, surprised and relieved that Saphira was alright. Rose let go to look properly at the young woman standing in front of them.

"A woman gave me this and put in the coordinates," Saphira said, holding up her wrist to show the manipulator. "She said I would find you. And I did."

"Who was she?" The Doctor asked, suspicion rising.

"She called herself River Song, and claimed to be my niece. She knew a lot about me, and was able to help me with something," Saphira replied.

"That doesn't matter now. Where were you? How long have you been gone?" Rose asked.

"In Camelot, lived there for three decades as Merlin's apprentice. Then River appeared and gave me a way back," Saphira answered. "Enough of me. Where are we?"

"Earth. Utah, North America," the Doctor replied. "We're about a half a mile underground."

"And, when are we?" Rose asked as the Doctor leaned in to examine a strange creature in a glass container.

"2012," the Doctor replied.

"That's so close. So I should be 26," Rose said. A sound of a light switching on alerted them, and the room was illuminated by bright light. "Blimey! It's a great big museum!"

"An alien museum," Saphira said, examining a different container. "Someone seems to have a hobby, the must have spent fortunes on this stuff."

"Chunks of meteorite. Moondust. The mileometer from the Roswell spaceship," the Doctor listed as they walked. Another container caught Rose's attention.

"That's a bit of Slitheen!" she exclaimed, looking at the stuffed arm of the alien they fought a while back. "A stuffed Slitheen arm!"

"Oh, look at you!" Rose and Saphira turned to see the Doctor walking towards another container, this one containing the head of a robot.

"That's a Cyberman!" Saphira breathed, coming to stand next to the Doctor, "I fought a few of those in Camelot. Nasty bunch."

"Is that where the signal's coming from?" Rose asked, standing on the Doctor's other side.

"No. It's dead. The signal's alive," the Doctor replied, "Something's reaching out, calling for help." He pressed two fingers on the glass.

Immediately, alarms began blaring, causing Rose and Saphira to jump. Saphira pulled out a sword hidden beneath her cloak, facing one side, while Rose faced the other. Military men began running in, guns pointed at the trio.

"If someone's collecting aliens, then you're Exhibit A," Rose stated, nodding at the Doctor. The Doctor gave Saphira a look, and she nodded, sheathing her sword and holding her hands up like the other two did.

"And this is the last," they heard someone say as the trio were led in. It was a British accent. "Cost $800,000."

"What does it do?" another voice asked rather rudely. This one definitely was an American accent. As they walked in, they saw a young man giving something to the man sitting in a chair.

"See the tubes of the side?" the young man asked. He had the British accent. "It must be to channel something- maybe fuel." The older man held the object at the point, moving it so he could examine it.

"I wouldn't hold it like that," the Doctor advised.

"Shut it," the woman who brought them in snapped.

"Really though, that's wrong," the Doctor said, ignoring the woman.

"Is it dangerous?" the younger man asked, looking at the Doctor.

"No. It just looks silly," he replied, leaning forward to take the object. Safety catches on the guns clicked as the guards raised their guns at the Doctor. Saphira tensed, ready to knock the humans out. The older man, held up a finger, and the guards backed down. He stood up and gave the object to the Time Lord.

"You just need to be..." he said, holding the object where light was emitted. He brushed his fingers delicately over the object. It hummed a small tune as he stroked it. "...delicate." He continued to stroke the object, different tunes coming from it.

"It's a musical instrument!" the man exclaimed.

"And its a long way from home." The Doctor said, almost fondly.

"Here, let me," the man said, taking the instrument from the Time Lord. He brushed his own fingers over it, but it did not make the same noise as when the Doctor had it.

"I did say delicate," the Time Lord reminded the man. "It reacts to the smallest fingerprint. It needs precision." The man did as he was told, and the humming came back. "Very good," the Doctor praised, "quite the expert."

"As are you," the man said, tossing the instrument aside as if it were junk. Before it hit the ground, it hovered, before discreetly hovering over to Saphira, who slipped it into the pocket of her cloak. Only Rose, the Doctor and the young man seemed to notice, as everyone else was watching the Doctor and the man.

"Who exactly are you?" the man asked, and the Doctor turned back to the man.

"I'm the Doctor. And who are you?" he replied.

"Like you don't know," the man scoffed. "We're hidden away with the most valuable collection of extraterrestrial artifacts in the world, and you just stumbled in by mistake."

"Pretty much sums me up, yeah," the Doctor replied cheerfully.

"How did you get in?" the man asked, walking around his desk. "53 floors down. With your two cat burglar accomplices." He turned to Rose. "She's rather pretty, you seem to be the collector yourself."

"She's gonna smack you if you keep calling her a 'she'!" Rose snapped.

"She's English!" the man exclaimed then turned to the young man still behind the desk. "Hey, Little Lord Fauntleroy! Got you a girlfriend." Then he turned to Saphira. "You English too?"

"Hardly," Saphira growled, her own American accent tinted with the slightest bit of German.

"This is Mr. Henry Van Statten," the young man introduced.

"And who's he when he's at home?" Rose asked.

"Mr. Van Statten owns the internet."

"Don't be stupid. No one OWNS the internet. Its free for everyone to use," Saphira replied.

"And let's keep the whole world thinking that way," Van Statten said, grinning.

"So you're an expert in everything, except for the things in your museum. Anything you don't understand, you lock up," the Doctor summarized.

"And you claim greater knowledge?" Van Statten asked, his expression never changing.

"I don't need to make claims," the Doctor said, "I know how good I am."

"And yet I captured you – right next to the Cage," Van Statten gloated. "What were you doing down there?"

"You tell me."

"The Cage contains my one living specimen."

"And what's that?"

"Like you don't know."

"Show me."

"You want to see it?"

"So do I," Saphira said, stepping forward to stand next to the Time Lord. Van Statten looked at her, and she returned his gaze, though her's was more of a glare, a challenge to make her stay behind.

"Goddard, inform the Cage we're heading down," Van Statten informed the woman who had lead them in.

"You, English, look after the girl. Go and canoodle or spoon, or whatever you British do. And you, Doctor-with-no-name and Medieval girl, come and see my pet."

Saphira's eyes narrowed at the jest towards her clothing. She hadn't had time to change on the Tardis, and was still outfitted in her dark blue cloak, tunic, ankle-length skirt, and sandals. She followed behind the Doctor, half-wishing she could go back to the Tardis to change.

"We tried everything," Van Statten said as they made their way to the 'Cage'. "The creature has shielded itself, but there's definite signs of life inside." He opened the thick, steel door.

"Inside? Inside what?" The Doctor asked.

"Welcome back sir," a man dressed in an orange suit and carrying a helmet greeted Van Statten. "I've had to take the power down. The Metaltron is resting."

"Metaltron?" the Doctor asked, eyebrow raised.

"Thought of it myself," Van Statten boasted.

"Very original," Saphira drawled, earning a glare from Van Statten, which she easily returned.

"I would much prefer to know its real name."

"Why don't you just ask?" Van Statten glared at Saphira again, and she shrugged.

"Here," the orange suit man said, handing a pair of gloves to both visitors. "Put these on. The last guy that touched it...burst into flames." He shrugged, like it was nothing. Saphira huffed, but didn't take the gloves. Neither did the Doctor.

"We won't touch it then," he replied, smiling.

"Go ahead, Doctor. Impress me," Van Statten nodded towards the door. The Doctor walked in, Saphira right behind him. She heard Van Statten say something to someone, but she was focused on what was lurking in the shadows.

As soon as the door sealed shut, Saphira opened her hand, and a ball flame appeared, illuminating the two of them. They saw the table filled with tools to torture whatever poor specimen was contained in the Cage.

"I'm very sorry about this..." the Doctor began, but Saphira interrupted him.

"Don't apologize for someone else, especially for the likes of that man," she snarled. The Doctor gave her a look.

"Hush you, he might be listening in," he reprimanded her. She had changed a lot in the three decades she was gone, and he felt guilty for leaving her alone after promising that he wouldn't abandon her or Rose.

"He'd better be," Saphira growled. The Doctor raised an eyebrow, but said nothing else to her, instead turning back towards the shadows, only a blue light shining in the darkness.

"We've come to help," he continued, "I'm the Doctor, and this is Saphira."

"DOC-TOR?" a harsh, metallic, monotonous voice asked, two lights blinking with each syllable. The Doctor suddenly stiffened, and Saphira tensed, ready to strike.

"Impossible!" he exclaimed.

"_THE_ DOC-TOR?!" the voice asked, and the room was illuminated with lights. A large, bronze pepper-pot like robot stood there, chains wrapped around it. The blue light was coming from the eye-stalk and it waved the whisk and plunger at them threateningly, crying out "EX-TER-MIN-ATE!" in a frenzy manner.

The Doctor pounded at the door frantically, and Saphira didn't know whether to join the Doctor or fight this creature. Her magic flared, the adrenaline coursing through her veins. She hadn't felt like this since she first fought a dragon.

"YOU ARE AN E-N-EMY OF THE DA-LEKS! YOU MUST BE DES-TROYED!" The Dalek cried, and the Doctor moved away, panic clear in his face. Saphira stood between him and this Dalek creature, magic still flaring intimidatingly.

It continued to wave the whisk threateningly, but nothing happened. Saphira heard the Doctor laugh out, and she turned towards him in confusion.

"It's not working!" He exclaimed, grinning broadly. The Dalek stared at its whisk, as if confused. The Doctor laughed out again. "Fantastic! Oh, _fantastic!"_ he laughed. Saphira's magic dimmed down, no longer sensing any danger, but she was still on edge.

"Doctor? What's going on?" she asked nervously. This man really was a madman, going from panicking over this strange creature to laughing right at it. She was ignored as he went on.

"Powerless. Look at you. The great space dustbin!" He suddenly moved towards it, shouting. "How does it feel?"

"Keep back!" the Dalek cried, shifting as far back as its chains allowed. Saphira moved to block the Doctor, preventing him from advancing any further.

"Doctor!" She called, nearly yelling to get the time-traveler's attention. He stared at her in shock, as if not understanding why she protected this creature. "What ever this Dalek is, and what ever it has done; it is harmless now. Why not speak to it in a more proper fashion?"

The Doctor blinked at her. She had changed much from the jumpy forest girl that he first met. She seemed more sophisticated, though that was because she spent time in Camelot.

"Saphira," he said in a strained tone, "The Daleks are- were- a race that killed thousands of species, just because they weren't Dalek. My people fought them in the Last Great Time War, a war that everyone lost. I put the whole war into a Time Lock, basically killing my people as well as the Daleks."

"And that makes you both the last of your kind. I am Merlin's last apprentice, because magic died out. There is a connection between the three of us, because we are all the last," Saphira said, trying to get the Doctor to show sympathy.

"The Daleks killed without mercy-" the Doctor argued.

"And this one received punishment by having to be tortured by these idiots. At least let it come with us, let it somehow redeem itself," Saphira said, and the Doctor opened his mouth to argue further when the door opened and Van Statten walked in with guards, seeming very pleased.

"Well, I got more than I bargained for. The last of their kinds," he grinned like a cat who fed on the canary, then snapped his fingers. The guards grabbed hold of the Doctor and Saphira, and they tried struggling against them.

"Two more live specimen for my exhibits," Van Statten went on gleefully. A powerful mental presence made itself known by Saphira's mind. She opened up a connection, and she felt the Doctor's mind within hers.

_Saphira, listen to my instructions carefully,_ the Doctor said in her head while he spoke to Van Statten, _as soon as Van Statten and his guards pull us out of the Cage, break free and put your hand on the Dalek._

_But that one man had said that the last person to touch the Dalek spontaneously combusted,_ Saphira pointed out.

_That was because he had no background radiation, whereas we do. When you make physical contact with the Dalek, it will absorb your DNA to regenerate itself. When it has that done, get me and Rose, and we'll head back to the Tardis. Understood?_

_Loud and clear_

The conversation had taken mere seconds, and they were being dragged out. As soon as she was clear of the door, Saphira transformed. Her bones cracked and groaned as they shifted, her lithe body expanding, becoming more muscular. Gray and white fur sprouted all along her body, and claws grew out of her nails. Her jaw dislocated itself as it lengthened into a muzzle, her white teeth sharpening into canines, blood dripping from her mouth as the gums broke. The armor she wore shifted through her transformation, adjusting easily to her new body shape.

The transformation was quick and fluid, and where a human once stood, there now was a snarling gray werewolf, towering easily above the humans and alien. The two guards that had Saphira in their grips had been thrown against the wall, and now lay winded and shocked on the floor. Guns of the free guards cocked at the werewolf.

"Don't shoot!" Van Statten ordered, his face twisted in malicious glee. "Knock it out, but don't kill it. The werewolf roared, spit flying from its jaws, causing everyone to back away in fear. Saphira turned back to the Cage, just as the door was closing.

Her furry clawed hands pushed the thick metal door back, a feat no human nor Time Lord could manage on their own. She stalked inside the Cage as Van Statten and the guards vanished, dragging the Doctor with them.

The human dressed in an orange suit from earlier was torturing the Dalek. Saphira towered over the human, lips drawn back and growling. The human turned around to face the werewolf, only to stare at its furry stomach. His eyes traveled upwards towards the lupine head, and golden-amber eyes glared hatefully down at him.

Fear coursed through the human, freezing him momentarily. The long, tapered snout opened to reveal long canines, and a lolling, blood red tongue, saliva dripping from it. The human's eyes rolled back, and he fell limply onto the floor.

Saphira crouched down to sniff at the unconscious human, then nudged him out of harm's way. Despite being cruel to his prisoner, the human still had a life ahead of him, and she was not going to end it here.

The eye-stalk of the Dalek moved, watching the strange creature it had never encountered before. Saphira stood back up, then placed her paw-like hands on either side of the Daleks dome. She hissed in pain as her hands began burning, but kept them in place.

"RE-GEN-E-RA-TING!" the Dalek cried, the damage it had sustained repairing itself. It moved back and forth, breaking the chains that held it prisoner.

Saphira recoiled when the burning sensation ceased, and looked at her hands. The padding had turned bright red, and began blistering, only seconds away from becoming third degree burns. She winced, her body shifting back into human state.

"EX-TER-MI-NATE!"

Saphira jumped as a green light hit the unconscious human, showing the bone structure of him briefly. No life force pulsed from the man, confirming what had befallen the man.

"Why did you kill him?" Saphira roared, wolf still on the surface. "He still had a life ahead of him! His punishment for his crimes here would have come in due time!"

"IT IS THE PRI-MARY OR-DER OF THE DA-LEKS!" the Dalek replied, its eye-stalk bobbing. It rolled over to the computer outside the Cage, and Saphira watched as it processed all information on the internet. Her hands still stung, but she ignored it.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, the Dalek backed away. It turned towards Saphira, blue light illuminating her face.

"THE DO-CTOR STA-TED THE T-RUTH. THERE ARE NO MORE DA-LEKS! NOW I TAKE OR-DERS FROM YOU!" it stated. If this creature had any emotion, Saphira would have guessed that the Dalek was saddened by the fact that it was the last one of its kind.

"Why do you need orders?" Saphira asked, walking out of the Cage.

"I AM A SOL-DIER! I NEED OR-DERS!" it replied, watching the woman walk closer. Saphira paused, eye-level with the eye-stalk of the Dalek. She stared into the blue light, as if hoping to see the creature within.

"Come with me then. We need to get Rose and the Doctor," Saphira finally said after a moment. She turned to leave when two sets of footsteps came rushing towards her. Rose came into view, along with the boy from earlier.

"I saw what happened," Rose panted, worry in her eyes. She looked over Saphira's shoulder and saw the Dalek behind her.

"Is that it? The creature Van Statten tortured?" Rose asked, approaching the Dalek. It stayed quiet, assessing the new person.

"Yes. The Doctor called it a Dalek. He said that the Dalek killed all sorts of species, until his people fought in a war with it. Said it was the most dangerous species in the universe. And now its the only one left."

"Oh, poor thing," Rose whispered, placing her own hand onto the dome while the boy cried out "don't!". Rose's own hand glowed briefly as it made contact with the metal, and she pulled back quickly. A hand-print remained glowing for a few seconds, before vanishing.

The trio stared silently at the Dalek, while it stared quietly back.

"We need to get the Doctor," Saphira said, leading the way out. She transformed into a werewolf again, and began tracking the scent of the Doctor. The Dalek and Rose followed behind, and after a spluttering moment of hesitation, the boy followed.

When the four came out into a large room, guards stood all around, guns cocked at them. They all hesitated, soldiers staring at escapees and vice versa.

Then gunshots began raining out. They bounced off the metal of the Dalek, rendering it unharmed. It had a shield up that protected Rose, while Saphira had her own up. The boy had fled before they began shooting.

They kept shooting, and the shields begun to fail. A sharp object hit Saphira in the shoulder, and she pulled out the dart. Another hit her in the leg, and a third in her collarbone. Drowsiness swamped her, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rose collapse, a dart in her leg. The Dalek began striking back, green light always finding its target.

"Tranquilizers," Saphira slurred, before she, too, collapsed.


	5. Revelations

Chapter Five

Revelations

Several times, Saphira faded in and out of consciousness, everything blurred. She felt the Doctor carry her, and saw the Dalek self-destruct, before she slipped away again. The next time, she was being carried through the Tardis, the boy with them. The third time, she was in a bed, in which she guessed was the Med-Bay. Three more times she awoke in the bed, but slipped back into unconsciousness before she could properly register anything.

The final time she woke up, Saphira was now fully aware, but still drowsy. The Doctor and Rose both sat beside her in bed.

"Good morning," the Doctor greeted.

"Is there ever a morning on a time machine?" Saphira asked drowsily, sitting up. Her brain seemed to pound against her skull like a hammer, and every sound seemed to be distant.

"How are you feeling?" Rose asked, sitting down on the edge of Saphira's bed.

"Horrible," Saphira slurred, closing her eyes against the bright light and rubbing her head.

"There is something you haven't told us," the Doctor said, serious expression on his face as he stood in front of the bed.

"There is?" Saphira asked, squinting at the Time Lord.

"I took a blood test from you. Seems you are part Time Lord, part... well we'll call it werewolf multiform," The Doctor explained. Saphira and Rose both gave him a confused look; Saphira not believing what she heard and Rose wondering when he did the test.

"But... I'm human. My parents were human... I had a human illness... I even had a bone-marrow transplant! From a human! We did blood tests, and I am related to my parents!" Saphira started panicking. Was her past life all a lie? When did she wake up from her human life? Or was this the dream she was experiencing right now?

"Saphira!"

Saphira barley heard Rose call her name as she fainted, and hardly registered the concerned look on the Time Lord's face.

When Saphira woke up again, the room was darker, and her headache had lessened, although it still throbbed. She sat back up and looked around.

Rose was fast asleep in another bed, and the Doctor sat in a chair between them, reading _Great Expectations_. He glanced up when he noticed Saphira stir, and smiled worriedly at her, closing his book.

"I'm sorry about earlier," The Doctor said, placing the book on a table and turning to face her.

"Is it really all true? Am I really not a human?" She asked softly, fear written clearly across her face.

"Yes, I'm afraid so," the Doctor sighed.

"But how is that possible?" Saphira whispered, glancing down at her hands.

"I honestly don't know myself. And another odd thing- according to the blood test, you are my daughter." Saphira glanced up at him sharply. He avoided her gaze, his eyes unfocused. She could tell he was thinking about his past.

She didn't know what to say. First, she wasn't human; and now she finds out she is the Doctor's daughter. But then something else came to mind.

"Wait, you said that you were Time Lord. And I am part Time Lord, and part werewolf multiform. Where does that come from? And who would be my mother?" Saphira asked.

"I'm sure we'll find out soon. Only the three of us know," The Doctor nodded towards the sleeping Rose. "Now, you need something to eat." He got up and left the Med-Bay.

Saphira sighed, then took out the empty journal River had given her, and began recording her adventures, starting with when she first arrived in the forest, to the first encounter with aliens; from her times and adventures in Camelot, to her return to the Tardis, as well as her new discovery.

Porky, the pig they had rescued from the aliens, had tumbled out with her, and lived with her in Camelot, but survived only two years before becoming dragon food, but he was a brave little piggy.

The headache resided the more she wrote, and she felt even better after she ate, the transformations, the tranquilizers, and the magic having depleted her of her energy.


	6. The Empty Child

**A/N: I know the last chapter was short, and there will be further short chapters in between the long ones, so hang tight! Also, I get most of the lines from the DVD copy I own. Everything else, besides my character Saphira, belongs to the BBC.**

**Chapter Six**

**The Empty Child**

"What's the emergency?" Rose asked as the Tardis rocked violently. The trio clung tightly to the console as the zipped through the Time Vortex. Both she and Saphira moved closer, avoiding the sparks and flames.

"It's mauve and dangerous!" The Doctor replied, focused on the monitor "Universally recognized color for danger."

"Mauve? What ever happened to red?"

"Oh, that's just you humans. By everyone else's standards, red's camp. Oh, the misunderstandings. All those red alerts, all that dancing."

"To be fair, red does catch the attention more quickly then a calm shade of mauve," Saphira said, nearly loosing her grip on the console.

"True," the Doctor agreed, tapping on the console's buttons. "It's got a very basic flight computer. I've hacked in, slaved the Tardis. Wherever it goes, we go."

"And that's safe?" Rose asked.

"Totally," the Doctor replied, reaching over to pull a lever, only to jump back with a cry of pain as the console sparked violently. "Okay, reasonably. Should have said 'reasonably' there."

"No, no, no, NO!" he shouted, looking at the monitor "it's jumping time tracks, getting away from us!"

"What exactly are we chasing? And why are we chasing this thing?" Saphira asked.

"No idea," the Doctor answered. "Plus its mauve and dangerous. And about 30 seconds from the center of London."

"Great," Saphira groaned, yelping as the Tardis jerked hard, nearly throwing them off balance. "I forgot how crazy your flying is."

The Tardis materialized in an empty alleyway, and the trio stepped through the doors. The sky was dark and the air was cool, indicating that it was nighttime.

"You know how long you can knock around in space without happening to bump into Earth?" The Doctor asked.

"Five days? Or is that just when we're out milk?" Rose asked.

"Of all the species in all the universe, and it has to come out of a cow."

"Cows taste good, though. And ever heard of goat's milk, sheep's milk, or even camel's milk? Okay, where and when are we?" Saphira asked, shivering slightly.

"London, 1941. Must've come down somewhere quite close. Within a mile anyway. We're behind a little, so the object we're chasing should have fallen a while ago," the Doctor replied, walking out of the alleyway with his two companions close behind.

"How behind are we?" Rose asked, trotting to keep up with the Doctor's long strides. Saphira kept behind the two, smirking at the two love birds.

"About a month," the Doctor replied evenly.

"A month!? We were right behind it!"

"It was jumping time tracks! We were bound to be slightly behind! Do you want to drive?"

"And how are we going to find it? You gonna scan for alien tech?"

"Rose, it hit the middle of London with a very loud bang. I'm going to ask," The Doctor replied, holding up his psychic paper. Saphira face-palmed, but the other two took no notice.

"'Dr. John Smith, Ministry of Asteroids,'" Rose read.

"It's psychic paper," he explained, "it allows-"

"You to see what you want to see. Yeah, you told me that."

"Sorry."

"There's a slight problem with your plan, though, Doctor," Saphira called as they reached the back of a building.

"And what's that?" Saphira gave him an 'are you serious' look.

"1941? Ring a bell?"

"Nope."

"Really? You're a Time Lord, you should know the major events in history! Even as a human I knew what happened, 'cause we discussed it pretty much in every class we've had!"

"Here, we go," the Doctor said, ignoring Saphira and leaning against a door. "Door, music, people. What do you think?"

"I think you should do a scan for alien tech. Give me some Spock, for once. Would it kill you?" Rose asked and the Doctor sonicked the door. It opened, and the Doctor walked inside. "Come on, if your coming. Won't take a minute."

"1941, it sounds familiar," Rose said, wracking her brain for the answer. She turned as she heard something, almost missing Saphira's answer.

"World War II. Height of the London Blitz," Saphira replied, following the Doctor inside the building. "And I suggest putting on a new shirt." Rose glanced down at the shirt she wore- a union flag shirt- and agreed.

Saphira found the Doctor already out on the stage, asking his question. He received laughs in return of what he asked. She briefly thought she heard Rose call them, but brushed it off. She might have gone back to the Tardis to change.

"Have I said something funny?" he asked, and Saphira face-palmed again. "There's just this thing I need to find. Would have fallen from the sky a couple of days ago." Just then, the air-raid sirens went off, causing the audience to get up and start hurrying out. "Would have landed quite near here."

He looked up in confusion. "With a very loud..."

"Quickly as you can, down to the shelter!" a man ordered, making the Time Lord more confused. Then his gaze landed on the posters hanging on the wall.

"...bang." The Doctor finished somewhat lamely. His shoulders slumped in defeat.

"You get it now?" Saphira asked, joining the Doctor on stage, hands on her hips.

"World War II. How did I forget?" The Doctor asked rhetorically, heading off the stage with Saphira following him.

"Height of the London Blitz," Saphira agreed, rolling her eyes. Really, a major war that affected Earth's history, and the 900 year old Time Lord forgets.

"Where's Rose?"

"I told her to change her shirt, so she should be in the Tardis."

"Ah, well then, let's go then."

As they both returned to the Tardis, they knew something wasn't right. Saphira slipped into the Tardis, and transformed fully into a wolf. Rose's scent was faint, just like her own and the Doctor's, which meant Rose didn't return to the Tardis. Outside though, her scent was strong, which meant she had passed by, but did not enter the Tardis.

A sharp ringing noise filled the air, causing Saphira to jump in surprise. She flattened her ears against her head and skittered out of the Tardis. She backed away from the Tardis, whilst the Doctor stared at the ringing phone in confusion.

"How can you be ringing? What's that about? Ringing?" He exclaimed, reaching into his jacket to get his sonic. Saphira picked up a new scent and saw a dark-haired girl in a women's trench coat approach the two. "What am I supposed to do with a ringing phone?"

"Don't answer it," the girl said, and the Doctor whirled around to see the girl in the shadows just a few meters away. "It's not for you."

"And how do you know that?" the Doctor asked, stepping towards the girl.

"'Cause I do. Your dog agrees with me. Don't answer it." She gestured to where Saphira was looking at the phone warily, crouched low with her tail between her legs and ears flattened against her skull. The Doctor glanced in the wolf's direction before looking at the girl again.

"Well, if you know so much, tell me this," he began, walking back towards the ringing phone. Only Saphira noticed the girl walk away as he kept talking. "How can it be ringing? It's not even a real phone, it's not connected, it's not..." he broke off, noticing that the girl wasn't there anymore. The phone kept ringing, and the Doctor finally picked it up, ignoring the warning whimpers of Saphira.

"Hello?" he called into the phone. No answer.

"This is the Doctor speaking. How may I help you?" he asked, grinning slightly. The speaker crackled, before a voice replied.

"_Mummy?"_ a child's voice, sounding empty and confused, called out. Saphira growled and flattened herself more to the ground.

"Who's this? Who's speaking?" The Doctor asked, his face narrowed in confusion.

"_Are you my mummy? Mummy?"_ the child's voice kept repeating, ignoring the Doctor's replies, until he finally hung up. He turned towards Saphira, who was inching closer to him.

"Think you can sniff the girl out?" he asked. Saphira tilted her wolfish head sideways, as if asking 'What about Rose?'

"We might run into her. I told her not to wander off..."

Saphira sneezed, then tracked the scent of the girl, her bushy gray tail wagging behind her. The Doctor followed the wolf-girl, easily keeping up with his long stride. They turned a few corners, and a woman's voice began yelling.

"The planes are coming, can't you hear them? Into the shelter." The Doctor and Saphira both hopped onto trash cans and peered over the wall. "None of your nonsense, now move it!"

Both saw a portly woman in a flowery-blue dress shove her child into a crudely constructed shelter. "Come on. Hurry up, get in there. Come on!" She then turned towards the house. "Arthur, will you hurry up?" Didn't you hear the siren?"

"Middle of dinner, every night," a portly man- probably Arthur- complained. "Blooming Germans, don't they eat?" That earned a grin from the Doctor, and a equivalent of one from the wolf beside him.

"I can hear the planes," his wife complained.

"Don't you eat?" Arthur yelled at the plane that swooped overhead, walking towards the shelter, hands stuffed in his pockets.

"Keep your voice down, will you? It's an air raid!" his wife snapped, following her husband into the shelter. "Get in. Look, there's a war on."

"I know there's a war on, don't push me!" The two heard Arthur grumble, then they saw the girl they met earlier sneak by, into the house.

-Line Break-

Saphira stretched herself under the table as the kids gathered around, avoiding any prodding feet. They had gone in unnoticed, wanting answers. Saphira kept her guise as a wolf though, because it would be strange for the wolf to disappear and a girl to appear.

There was a chorus of "thanks miss," from the kids, and one from the Doctor, which caused the children to gasp and move away, chairs scraping on the wooden floor.

"It's alright," the girl reassured the kids. "Everybody stay where they are."

"Good here, isn't it? Who's got the salt?" the Doctor asked.

"Back in your seats!" the girl ordered. "He shouldn't be here either." The kids settled back into their seats, albeit nervously.

"So, you lot, what's the story?" the Doctor asked, slipping Saphira a piece of meat, which she lapped up quickly. She noticed a few kids poke their heads down to look, and they smiled. Soon she began receiving bits of food from the kids, earning licks of thanks in return.

"What do you mean?" one of the boys asked.

"You're homeless, right? Living rough?"

"Why do you want to know that?" another boy asked, "you a copper?"

"'Course I'm not a copper. What's a copper going to do with you lot anyways? Arrest you for starving?" That earned laughter from every kid at the table. "It's 1941. You lot shouldn't even be in London. Should've been evacuated to the country by now."

"I was evacuated," a third boy replied, "Sent me to a farm."

"So why'd you come back?"

"There was a man there."

"Yeah, same with Ernie. Two homes ago," the second boy quipped.

"Shut up," the first boy- Ernie- snapped. "It's bet on the streets anyway. There's better food."

"Yeah. Nancy always gets the best food for us," the second boy added.

"So that's what you do, is it, Nancy?" The Doctor asked.

"What is?" Nancy asked. Saphira poked her head from under the table to stare at the girl, who pushed Saphira's wolfish head back under the table.

"Soon as the sirens go, you find a big, fat family meal, still warm on the table,with everyone down in the air raid shelter and bingo! Feeding frenzy for the homeless kids of London town. Puddings for all! As long as the bombs don't get you."

"Something wrong with that?" Nancy asked heatedly.

"Wrong? It's brilliant!" The Doctor said admiringly, giving Saphira another piece of meat as she poked her head by him. "I'm not sure if it's Marxism in action or a West End musical?"

"Why'd you follow me?" Nancy asked "what do you want?"

"I want to know how a phone that isn't a phone gets a phone call. You seem to be the one to ask," the Doctor said.

"I did you a favor," Nancy replied, "I told you not to answer it. That's all I'm telling you."

"Great thanks," the Doctor said, then added "and I want to find a blonde in a Union Jack. I mean a specific one, I didn't just wake up one morning with a craving." That earned more laughter from the kids, and Nancy chair scraped the floor as she stood up. "Anybody seen a girl like that?"

"What have I done wrong?" he asked as Nancy took his plate away.

"You took two slices." Nancy replied.

"One was for my mutt," The Doctor retorted, but Nancy ignored him.

"No blondes, no flags. Anything else before you leave?"

"There is, actually. Thanks for asking!" Saphira watched as he pulled out a notebook, her muzzle poking out from under the table. "Something I've been looking for. Would've fallen from the sky about a month ago, but not a bomb. Not the usual kind anyway. Wouldn't have exploded. Probably buried itself in the ground somewhere. And it would have looked something like this." He held up his rough sketch of the object they had chased.

Saphira smelled curiosity from the children, but sudden anxiety from Nancy. _Interesting_ the girl-turned-wolf thought. A sudden knocking on the door caused the children to gasp.

"Mummy? Are you in there mummy?" a child's voice asked. Saphira's head fully appeared from under the table, ears perked and her head cocked. The voice sounded familiar. The Doctor stood up and pushed the curtain aside, revealing a small child with a gas mask on.

"Mummy?" the child asked, placing a small hand on the window.

"Who was the last one in?" Nancy asked, fear rolling off her.

"Him and his mutt," Ernie replied, pointing his fork at the Doctor.

"They came round the back," Nancy replied. "Who came in the front?"

"Me," the third boy said in a small whisper. Now all the children had fear coming off them. A little girl gripped her hand into Saphira's thick, gray, scruff fur, and Saphira nuzzled the little girl reassuringly.

"Did you close the door?" Nancy asked. When the boy hesitated, she asked again "did you close the door?"

"Mummy. Mummy," the child outside asked, heading towards the door. "Mummy." Nancy raced out of the dining room, and Saphira heard the door being bolted shut just as the Doctor followed Nancy out.

"What's this, then?" the wolf's keen ears heard the Doctor ask. "Never easy being the only child left out in the cold, you know."

"I suppose you'd know," Nancy's voice quipped.

"I do, actually, yeah," the Doctor replied.

"It's not exactly a child." Nancy answered.

"Mummy!"

"Everybody out! Across the back garden, under the fence!" Nancy ordered, running back into the room. "Now! Go! Move!" The children scrambled, grabbing their coats and rushing out the door. The little girl that gripped Saphira's fur whimpered, her grip tightening, but not hurting the wolf.

"Come on, baby, we've got to go," Nancy urged the girl, and Saphira nudged the girl to her feet. "It's just like a game, just like chasing. Take your coat, go on." The little girl grabbed her coat and slipped it on, all the while keeping a grip on the wolf. She hurried out the door and Saphira trotted alongside her. The wolf glanced at the Doctor, who gave her a reassuring nod.

-Line Break-

When the children were safe, Saphira returned to the house and sniffed out the Doctor and Nancy's scents. She followed their trail, eventually ending up near a locked up hospital. Saphira spotted the Doctor, and let out a happy yelp.

The Doctor turned to see Saphira bound up to him, tail wagging. He gave her a quick scratch behind the ears before pushing the gate open. The two of them headed inside, Saphira still keeping her wolf form to sniff out danger.

Every floor they examined, every ward, was the same thing. Every bed filled with people in gas masks just lying there. Saphira edged closer to the Doctor. They didn't smell right. They smelled of death, and yet they did not. The entire hospital seemed devoid of life, and still there were people living there. It made the Saphira's fur stand on end.

Coming into another ward, they examined the whole place; it was just like the many other ones before it. A screech of a chair caught their attention as a older man limped into the room.

"You'll find them everywhere," he said, leaning on his cane and looking at the bed's occupants. "In every bed, in every ward. Hundreds of them."

"Yes, we saw," The Doctor replied, hand on the wolf's head, who was pressing herself against his leg. "Why are they still wearing gas masks?"

"They're not," the man answered. "Who are you?"

"I'm..." the Doctor began, but quickly changed his reply "Are you the Doctor?"

"Dr. Constantine. And you are?" the man pressed.

"Nancy sent us," the Doctor said, not willing to answer the question.

"Nancy? That means you must have been asking about the bomb." Dr. Constantine limped slowly past them, completely ignoring Saphira. "What do you know about it?"

"Nothing. That's why I was asking. What do you know?"

"Only what it's done." Dr. Constantine turned back towards them, his gaze traveling over the patients again.

"These people were all caught up in the blast?" The Doctor asked.

"None of them were," Dr. Constantine replied, chuckling. His chuckles, however, turned quickly into hacking coughs. The Doctor moved closer to help him, but he waved the Doctor off, sitting down in a chair. Saphira stayed put, her tail tucked between her legs and her ears flattened against her skull.

"You're very sick," the Doctor observed.

"Dying, I should think. I just haven't been able to find the time. Are you a doctor?"

"I have my moments."

"Have you examined any of them yet?"

"No."

"Don't touch the flesh."

"Which one?"

"Any one."

The Doctor went over to examine one of the patients, his sonic screwdriver out and whirring. Saphira stayed put, crouching on the floor, trembling. Something was off, really off, and her wolf instincts told her to get out of there, but her human- or time lady- self told her to stay put.

"Conclusions?" Dr. Constantine asked.

"Massive head trauma, mostly to the left side," the Doctor diagnosed, "partial collapse of the chest cavity, mostly to the right. There's some scarring on the back of the hand, and the gas mask seems to be fused to the flesh, but I can't see any burns."

"Examine another one."

The Doctor went over to another bed and came up with the same results.

"This is impossible," he said, turning to the old doctor.

"Examine another."

He went to the other side of the ward and scanned the person. "This is impossible."

"No."

"They've all got the same injuries."

"Yes."

"Exactly the same."

"Yes."

"Identical, all of them, right down to the scar on the back of the hand," the Doctor said, going over to examine more patients. Only Saphira notice Dr. Constantine's hand tighten on the cane- the hand with a scar on it. She started backing up, her wolf instincts telling her to flee overwhelming her. "How did this happen? How did it start?

"When that bomb dropped, there was just one victim," Dr. Constantine replied.

"Dead?"

"At first," Dr. Constantine began. "His injuries were truly dreadful. By the following morning every doctor and nurse who had treated him, who had touched him, and those exact same injuries. By the morning after, every patient on the same ward, the exact same injuries. Within a week, the entire hospital. Physical injures as plague. Can you explain that?" The Doctor looked around, his face showing confusion. "What would you say was the cause of death?"

"The head trauma," the Doctor replied.

"No."

"Asphyxiation?" he guessed.

"No."

"The collapse of the chest cavity."

"No."

"All right, what was the cause of death?"

"There wasn't one," Dr. Constantine replied. "They're not dead." He then banged his cane against a bucket. In response, all the patients sat upright immediately. The Doctor and Saphira backed away quickly.

"It's alright, they are harmless," the old doctor reassured them. "They just sort of sit there. No heartbeat. No life signs of any kind. They just... don't die."

"And they've just been left here? Nobody's doing anything?" The Doctor asked in disgust. The patients all settled back down, but Saphira was still tensed to spring away.

"I try and make them comfortable. What else is there?" Dr. Constantine replied.

"Just you? You're the only one here?"

"Before this war began, I was a father and a grandfather. Now I'm neither. But I'm still a Doctor."

"Yeah, knew that feeling before."

"I suspect the plan is to blow up the hospital and blame it on a German bomb."

"Probably too late."

"I know. There are isolated cases..." the old doctor trailed off, gripping his cane tightly and hacking. "Isolated cases breaking out all over London," he hacked, and the Doctor approached him to help. "Stay back, stay back! Listen to me. Top floor. Room 802. That's where they took the first victim. The one from the crash site. And you must find Nancy again."

"Nancy?"

"It was her brother." It got more and more difficult for the old man to talk, but he still managed to get a few words out. "She knows more than she's saying. She won't tell me, but she..." he couldn't get the word out, and began saying, "m-mum-my? A-are you my mum-my?"

Then the horrid transformation began. Dr. Constantine's face began contorting, the muzzle of the gas mask coming out of his mouth and his nose melding in.. His eyes turned into the protective lenses, his breathing deepening, and his skin darkened and stretched, forming into the gas mask.

Horrified, Saphira bounded out of the ward, her paws skittering on the floor and her claws making scratches on the stone. Her fur was fluffed up completely, and the white's of her wolf's eyes showed. She flew down the hallway and rammed into a person, knocking them over.

"Saphira! Are you alright?" Her golden-amber eyes gazed at Rose, who was standing next to the person she knocked over. Rose knelt down and rubbed the frightened wolf's head, who seemed to be trying to bury herself into her stomach.

"You are one strong mutt," an American accented, male voice said. Saphira lifted her head and gazed at the man she had knocked over. A strong scent of lion filled her nose, and Saphira's hackles rose. The man gazed at her in surprise.

"You're a therian!" the man exclaimed.

"A what?" Rose asked, pausing.

"A therian. They are were-humans. Half-human half-animal. I'm a werelion, and she seems to be a werewolf," the man answered, then paused. "But I smell different animals on her, not just wolf."

"What are you lot doing on the floor?" The Doctor's voice interrupted. They turned to see the Time Lord striding over to them.

"Your werewolf friend knocked me over," the werelion replied, then stood up. "Good evening. Jack Harkness. I've been hearing all about you on the way over." he shook the Time Lord's hand.

"He knows, I had to tell him. About us being Time Agents," Rose explained, standing beside the two of them. Saphira stuck close to Rose

"And it's a real pleasure to meet you, Mr. Spock. Though I didn't know you had a werewolf with you," Jack said, and walked past then.

"Mr. Spock?" the Doctor whispered to Rose.

"What was I supposed to say? You don't have a name!" Rose replied. "Don't you ever get tired of 'Doctor'? Doctor who?"

"Nine centuries in, I'm coping. Where've you been? We're in the middle of a London Blitz, not the time for a stroll." The Doctor chided.

"Who's strolling? I went by barrage balloon." Rose said, the two of them following Jack into the room. "Only way to see an air raid."

"What?"

"Listen, what's a Chula warship?

"Chula?" The Doctor asked, stopping. Saphira stayed close to Rose, reluctant to go back in, but wanting to be with the group.

Inside the room, Jack was scanning the patients with the device on his arm, which Saphira recognized as a Vortex Manipulator, like the one River had given her.

"This just isn't possible. How did this happen?" Jack asked, disbelief written across his face.

"What kind of Chula ship landed here?" The Doctor asked, watching Jack went over to scan another patient. His arms were crossed in he was standing in a 'I'm not very pleased' stance. Saphira sat between him and Rose, who mirrored the Doctor's stance.

"What?" Jack asked, stopping.

"He said it was a warship," Rose supplied. "He stole it, parked it somewhere out there. Somewhere a bomb's gonna fall on it. Unless we make him an offer."

"What kind of warship?" The Doctor asked.

"Does it matter?" Saphira could smell fear on the man, and see that he was tense. "It's got nothing to do with this!"

"This started at the bomb site," the Doctor snapped, walking closer to Jack. "It's got everything to do with it. What kind of warship?"

"An ambulance," Jack finally answered. "Look," he said, bringing up a hologram of the object on his Manipulator. "That's what you chased through the time vortex. It's space junk, I wanted to kid you it was valuable. It's empty. I made sure of it. Nothing but a shell. I threw it at you. Saw your time travel vehicle, love the retro look by the way- nice panels- threw you the bait..."

"Bait?" Rose interrupted.

"I wanted to sell it to you, then destroy it before you found out it was junk."

"You said it was a warship," Rose said, confused.

"They have ambulances in wars," Jack pointed out, then walked past them. "It's a con. I was conning you. That's what I am, I'm a con man. Thought you were Time Agents. You're not are you?"

"Just a couple more freelancers," Rose replied.

"Oh, should've known, they way you guys are blending in with the local color. I mean, flag girl was bad enough, and a wolf running around is weird, but U-boat captain?" The Doctor looked slightly offended by that comment. "Anyway, whatever's happening here has got nothing to do with that ship."

"What is happening here, Doctor?" Rose asked, gazing around the room.

"Human DNA is being rewritten," the Doctor explained, "by an idiot."

"What do you mean?" Rose asked.

"I don't know, some kind of virus. Converting human beings into these things. But way? What's the point?"

Rose walked over to one of the beds to look at the patient herself. She hovered near it, when it suddenly sat upright, causing her to yell in panic. All the other patients sat upright as well, causing the group to back away from them. Saphira immediately crouched low again, fluffed up and growling.

"Mummy," they chorused at different times.

"What's happening?" Rose asked.

"I don't know," the Doctor replied, as the patients all stood up and faced them. "Don't let them touch you." The group started backing up as the gas masked people approached them in a zombie like fashion.

"What happens if they touch us?" Rose asked, hand gripping Saphira's scruff.

"You're looking at it."

"Mummy. Mummy. Mummy."

**A/N:**__**Cliffhanger! Although, if you did watch this episode, you would have known it was coming. The term therians and the idea for other were-creatures besides werewolves comes from Curtis Jobling, author of the series **_**Wereworld**_**, so credit goes to him. For those of you who do not know about therians, it will be explained in chapter 8, a filler chapter before **_**Boom Town**_**. I suggest reading the **_**Wereworld**_** series, its really good. Although quite violent, so if you have a weak stomach, be warned: there's a lot of blood. Sorry if anyone is OC, but I'm trying my best to stay IC. My character Saphira (named after the dragon) is based loosely off of me, but I gave her more independent character from me. Hope you enjoy my stories and please leave a review! Flames will be used to make s'mores; trolls, go back into your caves; but constructive criticism is welcomed!**


	7. The Doctor Dances

**A/N: Just a quick question: when the child did the sad head tilt, how many of you went 'awwww...". I admit I did. It just looked so adorable. :3 ah, I'm being mushy... :3**

**Also, I will stick closely to the episodes for a while, but I will try and diverge as much as I can.**

**Chapter Seven**

**The Doctor Dances**

"Go to your room."

The patients stopped when the Doctor spoke to them.

"Go to your room," he repeated, more angrily.

The patients tilted their heads at the Time Lord, and Saphira found herself mirroring the movement, her ears perked. Rose and Jack shared a look.

"I mean it. I'm very, very angry with you. I'm very, very cross!" The Doctor said, sounding much like an angry father. "Go. To. Your. ROOM!" He shouted the last word, pointing towards the door. The patients, with their heads tilted in sadness, made their way back to their beds and settled back in. Rose and Jack gave sighs of relief, and Saphira's fur flattened.

"I'm really glad that worked," the Doctor said with relief. "Those would have been terrible last words. Rose knelt down beside one of the beds, and looked at them closely, without touching them.

"Why are they all wearing gas masks?" she asked.

"They're not," Jack replied, "Those masks are flesh and bone." He was sitting on a chair with his feet up on the desk. Saphira chose to stay close to the Doctor, not wanting to get close to the changed humans, and still wary about Jack.

"How was your con supposed to work?" The Doctor asked.

"Simple enough, really," Jack explained, "find some harmless piece of space junk, let the nearest Time Agent track it back to Earth, convince him it's valuable and name a price. When he's put 50% upfront... oops! German bomb falls on it, destroys it forever. He never gets to see what he's paid for, never knows he's been had. I buy him a drink with his own money and we discuss dumb luck. The perfect self-cleaning con." He seemed proud of himself.

"Yeah. Perfect," the Doctor agreed, though not happily.

"The London Blitz is great for self-cleaners. Pompeii's nice if you want to make a vacation of it, though. But you've got to set your alarm for Volcano Day." Jack started laughing, earning a disapproving look from the Doctor and a growl from Saphira.

"Getting a hint of disapproval," Jack said, not laughing anymore. Saphira snorted. _Obviously_ she thought.

"Take a look around the room," the Doctor said sternly. "This is what your piece of harmless space junk did."

"It was a burnt-out medical transporter, it was empty," Jack defended himself.

"Rose," the Doctor said stiffly, walking away. Saphira was hot on his heels, not wanting to be in the room a second longer. This entire hospital was setting her on edge.

"Are we getting out of here?" Rose asked, also not wanting to stay in this building.

"We're going upstairs," The Doctor replied.

"I even programmed the flight computer so it wouldn't land on anything living. I harmed no-one!" Jack added, standing up from the chair. "I don't know what's happening here, but believe me, I had nothing to do with it."

"I'll tell you what's happening," The Doctor snapped, turning to face Jack. "You forgot to set your alarm clock. It's Volcano Day." Just then, the all-clear siren began to wail, letting everyone know that the planes had passed.

"What's that?" Rose asked, not knowing much about the sirens.

"The all clear," Jack replied.

"I wish," the Doctor said, heading out the door, with Saphira following him. Rose glanced back at Jack for a moment, before following the other two out. Jack decided to come along as well. Rose and Jack were behind, and didn't notice the Doctor and Saphira heading up a flight of stairs.

"Mr. Spock?" Jack called.

"Doctor?" The duo ran past the flight of stairs.

"Have you got a blaster?" the Doctor asked, peering down the staircase. Jack and Rose reappeared, Rose grabbing on to Jack's shoulders to keep from slipping.

"Sure," Jack replied, and the two bounded up the stairs after the Time Lord and the wolf. They stopped at a steel door that was labeled 802. Saphira tensed; this was the room the boy was brought into. Suddenly, things clicked into place.

"The night your space junk landed, someone was hurt," The Doctor explained. "This is where they were taken." He pointed at the door.

"What happened?" Rose asked, a little out of breath.

"Let's find out. Get it open," the Doctor instructed Jack, moving out of the way so the ex-Time Agent had room.

"What's wrong with your sonic screwdriver?" Rose asked as Jack pulled out a fancy and future-looking gun, aiming at the door.

"Nothing," the Doctor whispered as Jack fired is blaster. The square lock vanished, allowing the door to swing open. "Sonic blaster, 51st century. Weapon factories of Villengard."

"You've been to the factories?" Jack asked, seemingly surprised as the Doctor took the blaster from him.

"Once," the Doctor replied, examining the blaster.

"Well, they're gone now. Destroyed. Main reactor went critical, vaporized the lot."

"Like I said: once," the Doctor said, handing the blaster back to Jack. "There's a banana grove there now. I like bananas. Bananas are good." He walked into the room, Saphira following, despite her instincts telling her to flee.

"Nice blast pattern," she heard Rose comment.

"Digital," Jack replied.

"Squareness gun? I like it."

The room they had entered looked like a storm had blown through. Chairs were toppled, papers were scattered, glass was broken, machinery upturned. Curious, Saphira began sniffing the area, a familiar scent of death, yet not death filling her nose.

"What do you think?" The Doctor asked his companions.

"Something got out of here," Jack observed.

"Yeah. And?"

"Something powerful. Angry."

"Powerful and angry," the Doctor agreed as Jack and Rose walked further into the room. They noticed the drawings on the walls, and the polar bear toy. Picture frames were face-down on the floor, and a small bed that was unmade stood in the corner. A toy plane was on the large window sill, nose down.

"A child?" Jack asked. "I suppose this explains 'mummy'."

"How could a child do this?" Rose asked.

"_Do you know where you are?"_ a recorded voice, sounding like Dr. Constantine, asked. The two humans and one wolf turned towards the Doctor, who was looking at the recording machine.

"_Are you my mummy?_" the chillingly familiar child's voice asked.

"_Are you aware of what's around you?"_ Dr. Constantine's voice asked. _"Can you... see?"_

"_Are you my mummy?"_ the child's voice asked again.

"_What do you want? Do you know..."_

"_I want my mummy!"_ the child's voice interrupted. _"Are you my mummy? I want my mummy! Are you my mummy? Are you my mummy? Mummy? Mummy?"_

"Doctor, I've heard this voice before," Rose said.

"Us too," the Doctor replied, Saphira bobbing her wolf head in agreement.

"_Mummy?"_

"Always 'are you my mummy?' Like he doesn't know," Rose continued.

"_Mummy?"_

"Why doesn't he know?"

"_Are you there Mummy? Mummy?"_ The Doctor walked towards the trio, a thoughtful look on his face. _"Mummy? Please, mummy. Mummy?"_

"Doctor?" Rose asked worriedly.

"Can you sense it?" the Time Lord asked, and Saphira knew what he meant, because it made her fur stand on end and her hackles rise.

"Sense what?" Jack asked.

"Coming out of the walls. Can you feel it?"

"_Mummy?"_

"Funny little human brains. How do you get around in those things?" Saphira gave an annoyed huff, but she was still tense. The recording had stopped; it was clicking now, yet the child's voice continued on. A stronger whiff of the death yet not death filled the wolf's nose, causing the wolf to shiver.

"When he's stressed he likes to insult species," Rose told Jack.

"Rose, I'm thinking!" The Doctor said, pacing around the room.

"_Mummy?"_

"He cuts himself shaving," Rose went on, "he does half an hour on life-forms he's cleverer than."

"There are these children. Living rough round the bomb sites," the Doctor began his explanation. "They come out during air raids, looking for food."

"_Mummy, please."_

"Suppose they were there when this thing, whatever it was, landed."

"It was a med-ship, it was harmless," Jack reminded him.

"Yes, you keep saying. Harmless. Suppose one was affected. Altered."

"Altered how?" Rose asked.

"_I'm here!"_ Now Saphira was ready to run.

"It's afraid, terribly afraid and powerful. It doesn't know it yet. But it will do." The Doctor then began laughing softly. "It's got the power of a god and I just sent it to its room."

"Doctor?" Rose asked nervously as she noticed the whirring noise of the record.

"_I'm here! Can't you see me?"_

"What's that noise?" Rose was alarmed, her hand instinctively going to the wolf's head. Saphira was growling now, and shivering.

"End of the tape," the Doctor replied, "it ran out about 30 seconds ago."

"_I'm here now! Can't you see me?"_

"I sent it to its room. This is its room." The Doctor whirled around, and all three saw the child standing there. Saphira couldn't see the child, but she could smell it. And she was using all of her strength to stay put.

"_Are you my mummy?"_ It tilted its head, gazing at Rose. _"Mummy?"_

"Doctor?"

"Okay, on my signal, make for the door," Jack said, placing his hand into his pocket, where his blaster was.

"_Mummy?"_

"Now!" Jack shouted, pulling out his blaster and aiming at the child over the Doctor's shoulder. Only, it wasn't his blaster. It was a banana. He looked at the banana in horror as the Doctor pulled the blaster out, aiming at the wall.

"_Mummy?"_

A large, square shaped hole appeared in the wall, and Saphira was out before the Time Lord could speak.

"Go, now! Don't drop the banana!"

"Why not?" Jack asked as he followed Rose and Saphira out the room, the Doctor right behind him.

"Good source of potassium!"

"Give me that!" Jack said, grabbing the blaster and sealing the hole as the child approached, crying out.

"_Mummy? I want my mummy!"_

"Digital rewind," Jack said, blowing out a breath of relief. "Nice switch." He tossed the banana back to the Doctor.

"It's from the groves of Villengard, thought it was appropriate," the Doctor commented.

"There's really a banana grove in Villengard? And you did that?" Jack asked.

"Bananas are good," the Time Lord replied with a grin. A loud crunch and the wall giving way brought their attention back to the situation.

"Doctor!" Rose said alarmed.

"Come on!" The Doctor shouted, and all four ran around the corner and down the hallway, only to skid to a stop. The double doors opened and the patients were walking towards them. They backtracked, running around the corner again. But there were more patients approaching from that side, and the wall the child was punching was beginning to give way. They had no where to run.

"It's keeping us here till it can get at us," The Doctor explained.

"It's controlling them?" Jack asked, swinging his blaster back and forth between the wall and the approaching gas mask patients.

"It is them," the Doctor corrected. "It's every living thing in this hospital."

"Okay. This can function as a sonic blaster, a sonic cannon, and it's a triple-enfolded sonic disruptor," Jack said, still swinging his blaster. "Doc, what you got?"

"I've got a sonic... never mind," the Doctor said, pulling out his sonic screwdriver.

"What?" Jack asked, not noticing.

"It's sonic, okay? Let's leave it at that." Saphira would have laughed at the Doctor's embarrassment if she weren't so frightened.

"Disruptor? Cannon? What?" Jack pressed.

"It's sonic, totally sonic! I am soniced up!"

"A sonic what?" Jack yelled.

"SCREWDRIVER!" the Doctor finally replied, whirling around and holding the silver instrument up. Jack gave him a look of disbelief, but both turned back towards the approaching danger, just as the wall finally gave way and the child stepped through.

"Going down!" Rose shouted, grabbing Jack's arm and pointing it at the floor. A square hole appeared beneath their feet and the four of them fell through. They hit the floor, Jack rolling onto his knees and closing the hole back up.

"Doctor, are you okay?" Rose asked as they got to their feet. Right now, Saphira was wishing she chose to be going around as a feline instead of a wolf as she got to her paws. She had landed quite hard on her belly, which was smarting now.

"Could've used a warning," the Doctor said.

"The gratitude," Rose huffed.

"Who has a sonic screwdriver?" Jack asked in annoyance.

"I do," the Doctor replied, just as annoyed.

"Lights?" Rose asked, looking around for a switch.

"Who looks at a screwdriver and thinks 'Ooh, this could be a little more sonic?'"

"What, you've never been bored?"

"There has got to be a light switch!"

"Never had a long night? Never had a lot of cabinets to put up?"

Rose found the light switch she was looking for and flicked it on. Just as the lights illuminated the room, the patients lying in the beds the four had missed sat upright.

"_Mummy? Mummy?"_

"Door!" Jack said, pointing at the nearby door, and the group quickly made their way towards it as the patients began getting out of bed. Jack aimed his blaster at it and tried to open it, but it only made a faint noise.

"Damn it!" Jack swore, hitting the butt of his blaster as the Doctor himself tried to open the doors. "It's the special features, they really drain the battery."

"The battery?" Rose asked as the Doctor opened the door and the four hurried though. "It's so lame!" The new room they were now in was a dead end for them. The Doctor soniced the door shut.

"I was going to send for another one, but somebody's got to blow up the factory," Jack commented.

"Oh, I know. First day I met him, he blew my job up. That's practically how he communicates," Rose replied. Saphira tilted her head. Now this was a story she wanted to hear, once they were out of danger.

"Okay, that door should hold it for a bit," the Doctor said, moving away from the door he had sealed shut.

"The door? The wall didn't stop it!" Jack pointed out.

"It's got to find us first!" The Doctor replied. "Come on, we're not done yet. Assets, assets!"

"Well I've got a banana and in a pinch you could put up some shelves," Jack quipped.

"Window?"

"Barred. Sheer drop outside. Seven stories." Jack replied, sitting down in the old-fashioned wheelchair.

"And no other exits," Rose added, and Saphira had to agree as she sniffed the new room.

"Well, the assets conversation went in a flash, didn't it?" Jack asked, laughing to himself.

"So where'd you pick this one up then?" The Doctor asked Rose, turning towards her.

"Doctor," Rose said warningly.

"She was hanging from a barrage balloon, I had an invisible spaceship. I never stood a chance." Jack replied, and Saphira rolled her golden-amber eyes in annoyance.

"Okay. One, we've got to get out of here. Two we can't get out of here-" Saphira heard the Doctor say as she was sniffing a shelf. Only the shelf vanished and she was now in a spaceship. Saphira blinked in confusion.

"How odd," she heard Jack say. She turned to look at him. Jack was perched on a large pilot's chair and looking at her in confusion. "The ship's emergency teleport's keyed to my molecular structure. How did it get you here too?"

Saphira stood up, changing back into her human form, her armor shifting during the transformation. Jack's eyes widened and his jaw literally dropped. Saphira raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"No way!" He gasped. "Y-you're the Therian Mother!"

"Therian Mother?" Saphira asked.

"The mother of all therians. The one who can transform into any therian at will! It's said she can transform fully into any animal, not just the therian forms," Jack explained eagerly. "A wolf at heart, but she has every animal in her. Her direct descendants are wolves. Even her mother, her mother's parents, and her sister are wolves, but only she is the Mother of all Therians."

"Well, you learn something new everyday," Saphira muttered. "But I don't know any of my true family, besides the Doctor being my father. And he's not a therian. And in my past, I had two brothers, no sisters..."

"Wait, Doc's your dad?" Jack asked, laughing.

"Yep. Shocker to us too," Saphira replied, sitting down on the bed. "And I grew up pure human. Now I find out I'm half Time Lord, half therian. And the mother of all of them, according to you." Saphira placed her head into her hands, dizzy with all the new information and slightly exhausted from all the running, the adrenaline wearing off.

Thankfully, Jack left her be as she mulled over the new information. She faintly heard Jack talk to Rose and the Doctor via Om-Con (as Jack explained). She heard the child again, sending shivers down her spine, and Jack putting on a bit of music: Moonlight Serenade by Glenn Miller. The music relaxed her, as music always did, but her head was beginning to pound with an oncoming headache.

Jack stayed quiet as he worked on getting Rose and the Doctor onto the ship, occasionally glancing towards Saphira, who had closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, zonked out by the events and the anesthetic from the triple tranquilizer darts she had been hit with still in her system.

-Line Break-

When Saphira awoke, she noticed that a lot of time had passed. One thing that gave her a hint was the bomb that now occupied a lot of room. Another was the Doctor and Rose's faint scents.

"Morning wolf," Jack said cheekily, looking a little put out.

"Guessing you stopped the bomb falling onto the med-ship, which is going to blow up soon, and we've got no means of escape?" Saphira asked, sitting upright.

"Yes, yes, and yes," Jack replied, sipping at the martini he had in hand.

"Ah, the Doctor will save us," Saphira reassured the ex-con man.

"You maybe, but not me," Jack said, eating the olive at the bottom of the glass.

"And Rose and I will drag you with us. You did help save us, didn't you?" Saphira asked, and Jack laughed softly in agreement, explaining what had happened while she was out.

"So Nancy was the child's mother? Not his sister?" Saphira asked.

"Jamie. Kid's name was Jamie. And yup, Nancy was his mum," Jack replied. Saphira smiled softly, then felt a breeze.

"Looks like our ride's just arrived," Saphira said, grinning. She leapt to her feet and dragged Jack towards the Tardis, where it waited for them just at the entrance hatch of Jack's ship.

Saphira's grin widened as she saw the Doctor and Rose trying to dance to Moonlight Serenade. Key word trying. Jack looked around in amazement as Saphira closed the doors shut behind them.

"Okay, all right, and turn," Rose instructed, but stumbled away. "Okay, try and spin me again. But this time, don't get my arm up my back. No extra points for a half-nelson."

"I'm sure I used to know this stuff," The Doctor said, walking towards the console, then turned to Jack. "Welcome to the Tardis!"

"Much bigger on the inside," Jack observed as the Tardis began moving away, surprisingly gentle.

"It'd better be," the Doctor huffed.

"I think what the Doctor is trying to say is, 'You may cut in,'" Rose said, taking Jack's hand.

"Rose! I've just remembered!" The Doctor exclaimed as the music changed. Saphira recognized it as 'In the Mood', another song by Glenn Miller.

"What?" Rose asked.

"I can dance!" the Time Lord said, bouncing to the tune and snapping his fingers. Rose giggled and joined him, while Jack took Saphira by the hand and the four of them danced to the bouncy tune, all of them laughing and giggling. The Tardis flashed her lights in time to the music, happy that Her crew were enjoying themselves. They kept dancing to more cheerful music, pushing the events from earlier to the back of their minds.

**A/N: End of chapter seven. I really loved The Empty Child/ The Doctor Dances episodes, so I didn't want to change it dramatically. Next chapter will explain fully about therians and learn some new things. Hope you enjoy reading! And please review? Please? Someone?**


	8. Therians

**A/N: I will try to update every weekend. Two chapters if I have time, and the following chapter is a shorter one.**** So here is Chapter 8! Plus, you get a summery (with a few spoilers) of "Wereworld", a new favorite book series of mine! I recommend reading it, its really good. :)**

**Disclaimer: I only own Saphira.**

**Chapter 8**

**Therians**

"So what is a therian exactly?"

After fully resting, The Doctor, Rose, Jack, and Saphira sat in Saphira's room. The room was quite large, with a huge tree dominating the room, and a hole in one of the walls, leading off to a cave-like area where Saphira slept. The four sat at the roots of the tree, where huge bean bag chairs were nestled in.

Jack turned to Saphira, letting her explain. She looked at Rose, who asked the question; then to the Doctor, who watched her calmly, interested; then to Jack, who gave her a reassuring nod.

"Well," Saphira began, "back when I was in my universe, there was a book series that I really liked called _Wereworld_ by Curtis Jobling. It was about a boy called Drew Ferran who is the last of the gray wolves, a subspecies of the werewolves. There are all different kinds of therians, which is the general term for them. They're also the nobles of their land, often called werelords and wereladies."

"Drew has to take his rightful place as ruler of Lyssia, the land that they live on. The current ruler, Leopold the Lion, was ruling Lyssia with an iron paw. He had taken Wergar's place as king. Wergar was the King of Lyssia before, and Drew's father. It was a book series I really enjoyed, and sometimes I felt as though I was one of the gray wolves myself. I had sort of a connection to wolves ever since I was a kid, and Werewolves were one of my favorite mythical creatures."

"So, you're saying that these therians are actually real?" Rose asked in disbelief.

"Seems like it. And Jack told me I am the Mother Therian, which is why I can transform into so many animals," Saphira replied.

"What kind of therians are there?" the Doctor asked. "So far, we've seen you as a fox and a wolf, Jack said he was a lion. What other animals?"

"Let's see if I can recall..." Saphira said, briefly closing her eyes. "Wolves, foxes, bears, boars, lions, tigers, leopards, panthers, cheetahs, hyenas, jackals, dogs, hawks, eagles, lizards, crocodiles, rhinos, apes, giraffes, hippos, sharks, squids, snakes, whales, stags, badgers, bulls, rats, crows, vultures, cranes, goats, terns, crabs... and there's even mammoths, and so many more! Pretty much every animal on Earth. Even dragons," Saphira listed.

"Each therian has their own kind of category," Jack added, "the cats are called felinethropes; the birds, avainthropes; the wolves, lycanthropes; bears are usranthropes; foxes are vulpinethropes; and so on and so forth."

"I think I saw the series in my bookshelf," Saphira said, going into a large gap in the tree where her study area was. She came back with six books in hand:_Rise of the Wolf, Rage of Lions, Shadow of the Hawk, Nest of Serpents, Storm of Sharks__, _and _War of the Werelords__. _Each book had a different therian on it, a werewolf, a werelion, a werehawk, a wereserpent, a wereshark, and a werepanther respectively.

The Doctor picked up _Rise of the Wolf_, examining the cover. "So these are books from your universe?" he asked, flipping through the pages.

"Yeah," Saphira replied, plopping back down onto her bean bag.

"And they- the therians- exist here," Jack added, "And Saphira may be the Mother Therian, but she is not the first. She was the first to reveal herself to the mortals, being King Arthur and his knights."

"How did you know about me being in Camelot?" Saphira asked.

"Everyone knows your stories. Your as famous as King Arthur and Merlin. Being King Arthur's Lady of the Therian soldiers and Merlin's apprentice," Jack replied. "One of my ancestor's was your second in command: Lord Leos the Brave."

"Oh, I remember Leos!" Saphira said fondly. "He was such a brave soldier. And his wife, Flare, was kind and very lovely. They were the ones who found me and Porky, and took care of us!"

"Porky? You seriously name the pig Porky?" The Doctor asked, stifling a laugh.

"Oh hush you," Saphira huffed. "Its what everyone called him for a while, and the name stuck. He wouldn't respond to anything else. Ah, such a brave little piggy."

"What happened to him?" Rose asked.

"Got eaten by a dragon. I was with Leos, Draco- a Croclord-, and Hunter- a Hawklord and head of the archers- were hunting down the Ratlords. They were trying to belittle the trust of therians we had worked hard to give to the humans. They mostly used me, since I was a wolf, an animal many villagers feared, and because I was a sorceress, but they smeared me as a witch."

"Is that how the werewolf legends began?" Rose asked.

"Pretty much, yeah. I was the only werewolf known in existence at that time, since the other werewolves were to frightened to step forward. And it was best that they had stayed hidden. The Rats had successfully smeared the goodness of the therians, and everyone had to go back into hiding," Saphira explained. "And during one of the hunts, Porky decided to come along, even though I told him to stay behind. We were going to go through the Dragon's Valley, and the four of us would have been safe, since we were fellow predators. Porky is prey to them, and we didn't find out he was with us until one of the dragons had gotten him." Saphira shivered at the memory.

"The villagers rebelled against King Arthur's choice to let therians live amongst the humans," Jack went on for Saphira, "So the therians fled, before the villagers could start a war. King Arthur's army and the kingdom lost many good soldiers, archers, sailors, and horsemen, since a majority were therians. No one really knew what happened to them. And they never reappeared properly until the 21st century."

"But there have been no accounts of therians yet," Rose said, "otherwise it would have been in the news."

"That's because the therian side of the people have been lying dormant for centuries now. Awaiting for their Mother to return," Jack said, turning towards Saphira.

"Would you think humans can accept therians again?" Saphira asked the Doctor.

"We'll see," The Doctor replied. "We should take it slowly at first, not to alarm the humans of the therains that have been living amongst them for so long."

"And we have to keep silver under lock and key. Wolfsbane as well," Jack added.

"Wolfsbane?" Rose asked.

"Also known as aconite. Very poisonous plant to the therians," Saphira said.

"What else can you tell us about the therains? How different are they from humans?" Rose asked.

"Well, therians can heal faster than humans, but silver and wounds caused by other therians heal slower, like on a human," Jack explained. "When first transforming into therian forms, its slow and painful, but the more often it happens, the faster, more fluid, and less painful the transformations become. That's because the body adjusts to the transformations, allowing itself to adjust quickly. Maintaining the therian form requires energy, so if the therain becomes tired, it goes back to human form. Also, if a therian becomes very angry, the inner animal comes forth, causing transformation. Therians also have a longer life-span than humans do. Those people you hear about that live for a long time? They're therians, only they cannot fully access the full life-span of a therian. Very few therians can also transform fully into their animal, as it is a very difficult process that requires letting go of all your humanity save for your mind."

"How can you tell who is therian and who is human?" Rose questioned. She was very intrigued by the information.

"We can smell the individual's animal scent within their human scent, but only when we're using our animal sense of smell, since human noses are much weaker than those of animals," Saphira explained. Then she took a deep breath. "This may be a bit of a shock, but I smelled wolf on you and your mother. Mickey himself smelled of panther."

"So, mum and I are werewolves?" Rose asked, shocked. "And Mickey's a werepanther?"

"Yep. I smelled some other therians too, but on no one else we know," Saphira replied. "And don't ask me how to unlock the therian side. I don't know myself."

"Blimey," Rose said, leaning back against the tree. "That's a lot to take in. What do you think, Doctor?"

The Doctor glanced up from _Rise of the Wolf_. Normally he'd breeze through books, but this was very interesting. He was only half listening to the conversation.

"We'll just wait and see, shall we? Let history unravel!" he said with a grin. No one notice the wordsof the books' covers transform into a message:

_Bad Wolf_

_The Therians shall return, when Bad Wolf releases Morgana's spell. Bad Wolf._

_Bad Wolf._

_Bad Wolf._

_BAD WOLF._

**A/N: I should warn you that the series rewrite may become violent. Which is why its rated T. And for those of you wanting to read **_**Wereworld**_**, be warned: there is a lot of blood and violence, because the whole series centers around a war. Remember to leave a review!**


	9. Boom Town

**A/N: Here's chapter Nine. Why isn't anyone reviewing?**

**Chapter 9**

**Boom Town**

The Tardis hummed happily, actually glad they had made the pit stop in Cardiff. Saphira could feel Her pleasure as She absorbed the Rift's energy. The Tardis had given her an I-phone filled with her favorite songs, a sketch book, and sketch supplies. Now, she was content watching The Doctor and Jack tinkering around on the Tardis while sketching and listening to songs. Rose was lounging next to her on the pilot seat, as she, too, watched the boys. All the while, _We're Not Gonna Take It_ by the Twisted Sisters blared through the speakers.

Because the music was so loud, they almost missed the knocking on the Tardis' doors. Jack, being closest to the doors, heard it, and pulled one of the doors open. Rose quickly hopped up and turned the music off.

"Who the hell are you?" they heard Jack ask the person outside.

"What do mean who the hell am I? Who the hell are you?" Came a familiar voice.

"Captain Jack Harkness. Whatever you're selling, we're not buying."

"Get out of my way," Mickey Smith shoved Jack out of the way, entering the Tardis.

"Don't tell me, this must be Mickey," Jack guessed.

"Here comes trouble," the Doctor said from his ladder. "How you doing, Rickey boy?"

"Don't listen to him, he's winding you up," Rose said, hugging Mickey.

"You look fantastic," Mickey said in the hug.

"Aw, sweet. Look at these two. How come I never get any of that?" Jack asked the two.

"Buy me a drink first," The Doctor replied.

"You're such hard work."

"But worth it."

Saphira rolled her eyes at the flirting going around. She tucked her sketch things away, and hopping over to join Rose and Mickey.

"Hi ya panther boy," Saphira greeted.

"Hey wolf girl. And panther boy?" Mickey asked, patting Saphira on the back.

"Long story," Rose replied, then changed the subject. "Did you manage to find it?"

"There you go," Mickey replied, handing Rose her passport.

"I can go anywhere now," Rose said to the Doctor, waving her passport with a cheeky grin.

"I've told you, you don't need a passport."

"It's all very well going to Platform One and Justica and the Glass Pyramid of San Kaloon, but what if we end up in Brazil? I might need it. You see, I'm prepared for anything."

"Sounds like you're staying then," Mickey said, sadness in his tone. There was a moment of tense silence, and Mickey sighed sadly. "So, what are you doing in Cardiff? And who the hell's Jumping Jack Flash?" Saphira snorted in amusement at the nickname. "I mean, I don't mind you hanging out with Big Ears up there. "Oi!" "Look in the mirror. Or Wolf Girl here. But this guy, I don't know, he's kind of..."

"Handsome?" Jack suggested.

"More like cheesy," Mickey replied.

"Early 21st Century slang. Is cheesy good or bad?" Jack asked.

"It's bad," both Mickey and Saphira said.

"But bad means good, isn't that right?" Jack asked with a grin. Saphira sighed.

"Jack, cheesy is sort of like being cliché. You do not want to be cheesy."

"Fair point."

"You saying I'm not handsome?" The Doctor asked, coming down the ladder and joining the group.

"We've just stopped off, we need to refuel," Rose said, preventing Mickey from answering the question.

"Thing is, Cardiff has what's known as a Time Rift running right through the middle of the city," Saphira picked up.

"It's invisible," Rose continued, "and it's like an earthquake fault between different dimensions."

"Much like the San Andres Fault in California," Saphira explained.

"The rift was healed back in 1869..." the Doctor added in.

"Thanks to a girl named Gwyneth, because these creatures called the Gelth were using the rift as a gateway, but she saved the world and closed it up," Rose finished.

"But closing a rift always leaves a scar," Jack went on, "and that scar generates energy."

"And not just any old energy, but one that the Tardis can use as fuel whenever She needs to recharge," Saphira added.

"This energy is harmless to the human race, as well as any Therians," Jack said.

"Just park the Tardis here for a couple of days, right on top of the scar and..." The Doctor went on.

"Open up the engines," Jack said.

"Soak up the radiation," Saphira added.

"Like filling Her up with petrol, and off we go!" Rose finished.

"Into time!" Jack exclaimed, holding his hand up for a high-five.

"And space!" All four travelers shouted, giving each other high-fives like a bunch of children.

"My God, have you seen yourselves? You all think you're so clever, don't you?" Mickey exclaimed.

"Yeah." The quartet said together, Jack giving Mickey a pat on the cheek.

-Line Break-

"Should take another 24 hours, which means we've got time to kill," the Doctor said as the group came out of the Tardis.

"That old lady's staring," Mickey pointed out, and the group smiled and waved at the lady, who shook her head and moved on.

"Probably wondering what five people can do inside a small wooden box," Jack said.

"You just had to say that," Saphira said, shuddering, earning a laugh from the former con-man.

"What are you captain of? The Innuendo Squad?" Mickey asked. Jack scowled slightly, giving him a _whatever_ hand gesture and walking off, the other three turning to follow.

"Wait, the Tardis, you can't just leave it. Doesn't it get noticed?" Mickey asked.

"Yeah, what's with the police box? Why does it look like that?" Jack added. Saphira looked interested, since she never really understood it herself.

"It's a cloaking device," Rose began.

"It's called a chameleon circuit," the Doctor went on, "the Tardis is meant to disguise itself wherever it lands."

"So, if, say, we landed in Ancient Rome," Saphira asked, catching on, "it would become a statue or something?"

"Exactly!" The Doctor said, almost pleased to call her his daughter. The Doctor and Saphira still were adjusting to their new relation, but they were getting there. "But when I landed in the 1960's, it disguised itself as a police box and the circuit got stuck."

"So it copied the real thing? There were actual police boxes?" Mickey asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, on street corners. You could phone for help before they had radios and mobiles. If they arrested somebody, they could shove them inside till help came. Like a little prison cell."

"Why don't you just fix the circuit?" Jack asked.

"I like it, don't you?" The Doctor asked.

"I love it," Rose said, leaning against the Tardis.

"A new symbol for hope," Saphira said, grinning. The Tardis hummed with pleasure.

"But that's what I meant, there's no police boxes anymore, so doesn't it get noticed?" Mickey asked.

"Ricky, let me tell you something about the human race. You put a mysterious blue box slap-bang in the middle of the street, what do they do? Walk past it. Now, stop your nagging, let's go and explore."

"What's the plan?" Rose asked skipping behind the Doctor, then leaning against his arm.

"I don't know," The Doctor said, "Cardiff, early 21st century, and the wind's coming from the...east. Trust me, safest place in the universe." Saphira felt a shiver run down her spine, but ignored it for the time being.

-Line Break-

"So you're saying that when you find out a way to awaken the dormant animal, I can be a panther?" Mickey asked, almost eagerly.

"Werepanther. It takes years to fully transform into an animal," Saphira said.

"But you can do it, and your, what, in your twenties?" Mickey pointed out.

"Flattering," Saphira said flatly, "but I'm far in my fifties. I only can manage the wolf and the fox. Eagle, I'm getting close on. And once you become a therian, there's no going back."

"I don't care," Mickey said, grinning. Saphira gave him a cool look, resting her chin on her folded hands.

"Let me warn you now, Mickey Smith. Being a therian is a large responsibility. Long ago, we swore to use our abilities to help those in need. The oath is still alive to this day because of me. Once you begin you therian training, you, too, will be bonded to this oath. It is also a painful process at the beginning, because your body needs to adjust to transformations. If you use the Panther to do harm to others intentionally, I will hunt you down and rid of you myself," Saphira growled, her eyes yellowing. Mickey swallowed and nodded.

"Hey, lay off the kid," Jack said, sitting down beside the werewolf. He gave her a basket of chicken strips, and focused on his own meal.

"He needed to be warned," Saphira said, shrugging. Her eyes had reverted to their normal, multicolored state. The Doctor and Rose joined the trio, Rose giving Mickey his sandwich.

The group ate and chatted happily amongst themselves, and Jack began telling a story that made the other laugh.

"I swear," Jack exclaimed.

"You're lying though your teeth!" The Doctor laughed.

"Tusks! It turns out the white things are tusks, and I mean tusks!" Jack went on. "And it's woken, and it's not happy."

"Course not!" Saphira snorted.

"How could you not now it was there?" the Time Lord asked.

"We're standing there, 15 of us, naked!" Jack went on.

"Naked?" Rose asked.

"And I'm like, 'No, it's got nothing to do with me.' And then it roars, and we're running. My God, we are running! And Brakovitch falls, so I turn to him and I say..."

"I knew we should have turned left!" Mickey exclaimed.

"That's my line!" Jack said happily, and the five burst out laughing.

"I don't believe you, I don't believe a word you say, ever!" Rose exclaimed through laughter. "That's so brilliant! Did you ever get your clothes back?"

Saphira's laughter faded as she noticed the Doctor get up and snatch a newspaper out of a man's hands. She got up and looked at the paper as well. What she saw made all her happiness vanish like the morning mist. The remaining three noticed something amiss and looked up.

"And we were having such a nice day," the Doctor said, showing the trio the paper. It was a picture of an all too familiar face that should have been blown up with the rest.

-Line Break-

The group of five entered the building, all friendliness gone, though Mickey seemed nervous. They lined up side-by-side, looking around.

"According to Intelligence, the target is the last surviving member of the Slitheen family," Jack said. "A criminal sect from the planet Raxacoricofallapatorius masquerading as a human being zipped inside a skin suit. Okay, plan of attack. We assume a basic 57-56 strategy, covering all available exits on the ground floor. Doctor, you go face to face, that'll designate Exit 1. I'll cover Exit 2. Rose, you Exit 3, Mickey and Saphira, you two take Exit 4. Have you got that?"

"Excuse me, who's in charge?" the Doctor asked, a unamused look on his face. Saphira held back a snicker.

"Sorry, awaiting orders, sir," Jack apologized, standing to attention.

"Right, here's the plan," the Doctor began, then turned back to Jack. "Like he said. Nice plan. Anything else?"

"Present arms." The five pulled out their mobiles, each saying "ready!"

"Speed dial?"

"Yep."

"Got it."

"Ready."

"Check."

"See you in hell," Jack said, heading off towards his designated post. Rose and the Doctor went off as well, and Saphira had to drag the suddenly frightened Mickey to their post.

As the two walked, Saphira began transforming. Her legs became longer and more lupine; her arms bulging with wolfish muscles and her hands becoming paw-like; her eyes a sharp golden-amber; her jaw dislocating as it morphed into a muzzle; her ribs cracking as her torso expanded. She snapped her teeth together, shaking her head, and her tail swished in anticipation.

"Whoa, that was scary and cool," Mickey said, and the werewolf made a rumbling noise that sounded like a chuckle.

"Are you sure you want to become like this?" the werewolf asked, just as their mobiles buzzed.

"_Slitheen heading north!"_ Came the Doctor's voice. Saphira grunted an affirmative, and began running on all fours towards the exit.

"Oi! Wait up!" Mickey shouted, running after the werewolf, and crashing into the trolley that came round the bend, which the werewolf had gracefully leapt over. The woman screamed at the two of them and keeled over in a faint.

Saphira snorted, hurrying back and yanking Mickey up to his feet before bounding off again. She smashed the doors open, wood splintering under her weight. Mickey was right at her heels, going as fast as he could with a bucket on his left foot.

Saphira immediately spotted the Slitheen, and heard it make a rattling noise in annoyance. With a few powerful bounds, she leapt over the escaping alien, blocking her exit. The werewolf turned, growling and snapping her jaws.

The woman smirked, and pressed her jewelry. She vanished, and Saphira let out an annoyed howl.

"She's got a teleport! That's cheating!" Jack shouted, just as annoyed as the werewolf. "Now we're never gonna get her!"

"Don't worry. The Doctor's very good at teleports," Rose reassured him as the Doctor pulled the sonic screwdriver out of the inner pocket of his leather jacket. He held the sonic in the air, and it let out a high-pitched noise.

The disguised Slitheen reappeared, and when she saw where she was, she turned and teleported again. The Doctor activated his sonic again, and once again, the Slitheen appeared. The Slitheen turned again and teleported away, and for a third time, the Doctor reversed the teleport and the Slitheen appeared.

"I could do this all day!" The Doctor exclaimed as the Slitheen bent over double.

"This is persecution. Why can't you leave me alone?" the Slitheen asked. "What did I ever do to you?"

"You tried to kill me and destroy this entire planet."

"Apart from that."

-Line Break-

"So you're a Slitheen, you're on Earth, you're trapped. Your family get killed, but you teleport out, just in the nick of time," the Doctor summarized as the group 'escorted' Margaret the Slitheen towards the nuclear power plant plans. "You have no means of escape, what do you do? You build a nuclear power station. But what for?"

"A philanthropic gesture. I've learnt the error of my ways," Margaret explained. The Doctor nodded, then smirked.

"And it just so happens to be right on top of the rift," The Doctor pointed out.

"What rift would that be?"

"A rift in space and time," Jack said, then pointed to the scale model of the power plant. "If this power station went into meltdown, the entire planet would go..." He made a sound effect as he mimed an explosion.

"This station is designed to explode the minute it reaches capacity," the Doctor went on.

"Didn't anyone notice?" Rose asked.

"They might have, only to be silenced before word gotten out," Saphira mused, recalling the dark habit of the Slitheen. She didn't notice Margaret giving her an odd look.

"But what about someone in London checking this sort of stuff?" Rose pressed.

"We're in Cardiff. London doesn't care. The South Wales coast could fall into the sea and they wouldn't notice," Margaret pointed out, then realized what she had said. "Oh! I sound like a Welshman. God help me, I've gone native."

"Then that might help change your mind about humans," Saphira growled.

"Fat chance," Margaret sneered.

"But why would she do that?" Mickey asked, completely ignoring the fact that Margaret was with them in the room. "A great big explosion, she'd only end up killing herself."

"She's got a name, you know," Margaret snapped.

"She's not even a she, she's a thing," Mickey said, but closed his mouth when Saphira gave him a warning growl.

"Oh, but she's clever!" The Doctor exclaimed. He knocked over a few of the model buildings, gripped onto the holes, and flipped the gray part of the table out and over, which let out a loud electrical noise. It landed in his arms, and both he and Jack examined it. "Fantastic!"

"Is that a tribophysical waveform macro-kinetic extrapolator?!" Jack asked in childish excitement.

"Couldn't have put it better myself," The Doctor said..

"A what now?" Saphira asked, Mickey and Rose looking as confused as her.

"Genius!" Jack shouted, grabbing the object out of the Doctor's arms and walking towards the disguised alien and the confused companions. "You didn't build this?"

"I have my hobbies, a little tinkering," Margaret said in an offhand manner.

"No no no, I mean, you really didn't build this. Way beyond you," Jack clarified.

"I bet she stole it," Mickey guessed.

"It fell into my hands," Margaret huffed.

"Is it a weapon?" Rose asked.

"Don't think so. I guessing it's some kind of transport," Saphira guessed.

"Right in one, Wolf," Jack said, putting the object on the ground. "You see, if the reactor blows, the rift opens. Phenomenal comic disaster. But this thing shrouds you in a force-field. You have this energy bubble..." he made a whooshing sound effect. "So you're safe. Then you feed it coordinates, stand on top, and ride the concussion all the way out of the solar system."

"So it's a surfboard," Mickey exclaimed.

"A pan-dimensional surfboard, yeah," Jack corrected.

"And it would've worked..." Margaret began.

"If it weren't for us meddling kids," Saphira quipped, earning snickers from Rose and Mickey. Jack and Margaret gave her a confused look.

"I'd have surfed away from this dead-end dump and back to civilization," Margaret went on, shooting an annoyed look at the Lycanthrope.

"You'd blow up a planet, just to get a lift?" Mickey asked in disbelief.

"Like stepping on an ant hill," Margaret snapped.

"How did you think of the name?" the Doctor suddenly asked, interrupting Saphira from making a dark comment.

"What? Blaidd Drwg? It's Welsh," Margaret said snidely.

"I know, but how did you think of it?"

"I chose it at random, that's all, I don't know. Just sounded good. Does it matter?"

"Blaidd Drwg," the Doctor said, turning to look at Rose.

"What's it mean?" Rose asked worriedly.

"'Bad Wolf'" the Doctor translated. Saphira felt a shiver go down her spine, but not of fear or anxiety. It felt like excitement.

"But I've heard that before. Bad Wolf. I've heard it lots of times," Rose said.

"Everywhere we go, two words following us. Bad Wolf."

"I've heard it too," Saphira said, "a dragon told me, 'Bad Wolf is coming.'"

"How can they be following us?"

"Nah, just coincidence," the Doctor suddenly exclaimed, breaking the trance. "Like hearing a word on the radio and then hearing it all day. Never mind." Saphira didn't shake it off so easily. Those two words made her feel excited, light; like she should sing a wolf song to the universe.

"Things to do!" the Doctor went on, "Margaret, we're gonna take you home."

"Hold on," Jack said, "isn't that the easy option? Like letting he go?" Saphira noticed that he, too, seemed stirred by these words. Even Mickey looked a little shaken. The only one who seemed to remain unaffected by these two words was Margaret.

"I don't believe it, we actually get to go to Raxi..." Rose trailed off, unsure about the pronunciation of the planet's name. The Doctor rolled his eyes.

"Wait a minute!" Rose said eagerly. "Raxicor..."

"Raxacoricofallapatorius," The Doctor said easily.

"Raxacorico..." Rose began.

"Fallapatorius," the Doctor finished.

"Raxacoricofallapatorius!" Rose said finally, then squealed.

"That's it!" The Doctor shouted, hugging Rose.

"I did it!" Rose exclaimed, earning a small laugh from Saphira.

"They have the death penalty," Margaret interrupted, killing the mood. Silence fell over the group, and Margaret looked at each of them before continuing. "The family Slitheen was tried in its absence many years ago and found guilty. With no chance of appeal. According to the statutes of government, the moment I return, I'm to be executed. What do you make of that, Doctor?" The Doctor stared back silently, so the Slitheen went on. "Take me home and you take me to my death."

"Not my problem," the Doctor finally replied.

-Line Break-

"This ship is impossible!"

Night had fallen and the group had taken Margaret into the Tardis. She was examining the interior with much interest. Saphira watched her every move carefully, not entirely trusting the Slitheen. Rose and Mickey were watching Jack plug the Extrapolator into the Tardis

"It's superb!" Margaret went on. "How did you get the outside around the inside?"

"Like I'd give you the secret, yeah," the Doctor scoffed.

"I almost feel better about being defeated. I never stood a chance. This is the technology of the gods."

"Don't worship me, I'd make a very bad god," the Doctor said. "You wouldn't get a day off, for starters. Jack, how we doing, big fella?"

"This extrapolator's top of the range," Jack commented, then turned to question Margaret. "Where did you get it?"

"I don't know, some airlock sale," Margaret replied.

"Must've been a great big heist. It's stacked with power," Jack explained.

"But we can use it for fuel?" the Doctor asked.

"It's not compatible," Jack replied. "But it should knock off about 12 hours. We'll be ready to go by morning."

"Then we're stuck here, overnight," the Doctor said.

"I'm in no hurry," Margaret commented.

"We've got a prisoner. The police box really is a police box," Rose said, grinning.

"You're not just police, though," Margaret pointed out. "Since you're taking me to my death, that makes you my executioners. Each and every one of you."

"You deserve it," Mickey said. Saphira gave him a warning look, but she agreed with him.

"You're very quick to say so," Margaret observed, her gaze flickering over to the werewolf, the next comment directed at her. "And you're very to soak your hands in my blood. Which makes you better than me how, exactly?"

"But it is only your blood, and not the blood of innocent lives. One life is nothing compared to billions," Saphira growled in reply, her gray-blue eyes staring into the ones that used to hold human life. "You so easily throw away the lives of many, of those with so much potential, just for money and a ride out."

Margaret glared at the Lycan, then turned to sit down in the pilot chair, each of the group's eyes watching her every move.

"Let's see who can look me in the eye," she challenged. She first gazed at Mickey, who turned away after a few seconds, then at Rose who looked away immediately. Next was the Doctor, who held her gaze longer, but he, too, turned away. Since she couldn't look at Jack from their positions, she finally looked towards Saphira, who met her gaze evenly.

Saphira had seen enough executions when she had lived in Medieval Camelot to become unfazed to the disgusted looks the victims gave her. She directed all her hatred towards the disguised Slitheen in her stare, her eyes becoming golden-amber; lupine. The wolf part of her also would not let this outsider win this challenge. Margaret looked away from the therian when her eyes began to yellow, and the werewolf held her head higher, showing that she was victor.

-Line Break-

"I don't trust her one bit," Saphira growled. "She smells deceitful." Rose and Mickey had gone for a date, and the Doctor had complied to Margaret's wishes of one last dinner, so it was just the two therians in the Tardis.

"Nor do I," Jack said, still fiddling with the extrapolator. Saphira raised an eyebrow.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you supposed to put things that are not compatible away from each other?" Saphira asked, hovering over Jack's shoulder.

"You're right, but the Doctor wanted the extrapolator wired in, so that's what I'm doing," Jack replied. Saphira shrugged.

"As long as you know what you're doing," she said, "I'm going make us some dinner. You coming?"

"Nah, not hungry," Jack replied, but his stomach said otherwise, earning a laugh from the werewolf.

"Sounds like your stomach disagrees," Saphira said between giggles. "Come on, let's grab a bit to eat. The others are out eating, and we need to eat too."

"Is this your way of asking me out on a date?" Jack asked teasingly as he got up and followed Saphira.

"What?! No!" Saphira exclaimed, alarmed. "What's wrong with two friends going to grab a bite to eat together without jumping to a conclusion that their dating?!"

"Whoa there, Wolf," Jack said, holding his hands up in surrender. "I was only teasing." That got Saphira to relax. She rolled her eyes and punched Jack in the arm, earning a yelp.

"Alright! Sorry!" Jack said, moving away from further blows. The two walked into the kitchen and Saphira got out two cans of vegetable soup and a pot. Jack sat down in a chair and asked "Why are you so defensive about that anyways?"

"Sorry, it's just that in America, two people can hardly act like siblings without someone jumping to the conclusion that their dating. Or being someone's best friend, and being automatically labeled as their boyfriend/girlfriend," Saphira huffed, pouring the cans' contents into the pot and turning the stove on. "And it gets on my nerves."

"Ah. Is that why you're hanging out in Great Britain with Rose and the Doc?" Jack asked, grinning. Saphira opened her mouth to reply, when her I-phone went off. She took her phone out and looked at the text she got. She motioned to Jack to man the stove.

_Does Bad Wolf mean anything to you?- MH_

_Not yet. We're trying to figure it out. How did you get my number? I just got this phone.~SE_

_You're future self gave it to me. Let me know when you figure out the meaning of Bad Wolf. -MH_

_Will do.~SE_

"Who was that?" Jack asked as he set the bowls of soup down on the table and taking the chair across from her.

"Ah, someone from the government wanting to know what 'Bad Wolf' is," Saphira replied, blowing at a spoonful of soup before eating it.

"You know someone from the government?" Jack asked in surprise.

"Yeah, saved his life along with two other government people when we first ran into the Slitheen," Saphira explained, "and it seems like this 'Bad Wolf' is tying us together. But why?"

"We'll find out," Jack replied, and the two ate their soups in silence.

When Saphira placed the bowls into the sink to wash them, the Tardis shook violently, throwing the two therians to the ground.

"What the-" Jack said as the two scrambled up. Saphira heard a wailing noise inside her head, and pain echoed in her.

"The Tardis is in pain!" Saphira cried, running towards the console room, Jack hot on her heels. When they got into the console room, they saw the extrapolator buzzing out of control, and the console was sparking. The entire ship shook violently.

"Detach it!" Saphira cried, the pain becoming immense. Jack ran towards the extrapolator and quickly disconnected it, leaping back as it sparked. The door flew open, and the Doctor and Margaret came in.

"What the hell are you doing?" the Time Lord asked as he raced towards the console.

"It just went crazy!" Jack exclaimed.

"It's the rift! Time and space are ripping apart!" the Doctor shouted. "The whole city's goning to disappear!" Saphira and Jack went to help the Doctor, while the disguised Slitheen just stood there, jumping every time something sparked.

"It's the extrapolator," Jack explained, "I've disconnected it, but it's still feeding off the engine. It's using the Tardis, I can't stop it."

"Never mind Cardiff, it's gonna rip open the planet!" The Doctor yelled. At that moment, Rose burst through the doors.

"What is it? What's happening?" she asked.

"Oh, just little me," Margaret said, and her arm tore off. A thick green arm grabbed Rose by the throat as the Doctor, Saphira, and Jack tried going to Rose's rescue.

"One wrong move and she snaps like a promise," the Slitheen warned, and the trio froze.

"I might have known" the Doctor said in disgust.

"I've had you bleating all night, poor baby," Margaret sneered. "Now shut it! You, fly boy." Jack turned towards the Slitheen. "Put the extrapolator at my feet." Her grip on Rose tightened.

Jack turned towards the Doctor unsure if he should listen. The Doctor gave a slight nod, so Jack took the extrapolator and placed it in front of the Slitheen.

"Thank you," Margaret said in an all to sweet voice. "Just as I planned."

"I thought you needed to blow up the nuclear power station," Rose managed to choke out.

"Failing that," Margaret barked, then continued in a softer tone, "if I were to be arrested, then anyone capable of tracking me down would have considerable technology of their own. Therefore, they would be captivated by the extrapolator. Especially a magpie-mind like yours, Doctor. So, the extrapolator was programmed to go to Plan B!" She gripped Rose tighter. "To lock on the nearest alien power source and open the rift. And what a power source it found. I'm back on schedule. Thanks to you."

"The rift's gonna convulse, you'll destroy the whole planet," Jack warned.

"And you with it!" the Slitheen shouted triumphantly. She jerked Rose around, so that she was able to step onto the extrapolator. "While I ride this board over the crest of the inferno, all the way to freedom. Stand back, boys and girl. Surf's up!"

A section of the Tardis, just below the console and in front of the Slitheen, opened up, bathing the alien in a pure white glow. Saphira wobbled in place; her head was spinning, a faint song was being song in her head; her heart felt like it was tearing. Rose didn't look good either, and not from being chocked. Jack held Saphira steady, and she could barley hear what the Doctor was saying.

"Of course, opening the rift means you'll pull this ship apart," the Time Lord said.

"So sue me," the Slitheen sneered.

"It's not just any old power source," the Doctor went on. "It's the Tardis. My Tardis. The best ship in the universe."

"It'll make wonderful scrap."

"What's that light?" Rose asked, her gaze constantly flickering towards the source.

"The heart of the Tardis," The Doctor explained. "This ship's alive. You've opened its soul." Margaret stared into the light, focused on the brightness and pureness.

_Sleep, Wolf Child. Now is not the time,_ a voice echoed in Saphira's head as she began to black out.

"It's... so bright," Margaret said, as Saphira faded out.

"Look at it..." was the last thing Saphira heard as she blacked out, Jack's hold on her preventing her from falling to the ground.

**A/N: DONE! Nearing the end of Season One! How many of you readers were as upset as I am that Chris stayed for only one Season?**

**Please leave a review, and constructive criticism is welcomed. Flames will be used to roast marshmallows for s'mores, and trolls, go back from whence you came!**


	10. Bad Wolf

**Chapter 10**

**Bad Wolf**

"Miss? Miss? Please, Miss, wake up."

Saphira jerked violently, waking up instantly. She was up on her feet and taking in her surroundings. Five people, unfamiliar and frightened, were with her, in what seemed like a cave. They were at mouth of the cave, the cave itself being shallower than the ones back when she lived with the pack. Beyond the cave was what Saphira guessed to be a minefield, with bodies and body parts scattered across the ground amongst debris.

"What's going on?" Saphira asked, turning to the young woman who was standing near her. She looked like she was about to fall to the ground, crying. "Where am I? Where are my friends?"

"You're on the Gamestation," a young man answered. He looked braver than the rest of them, but his eyes showed that he, too, was frightened. "We have to deactivate a bomb beyond that minefield, and we've got half an hour left. Half our team already went out and got themselves blown up. As for your friends, they might be in one of the other game-shows."

"My brother was one of them," the woman next to Saphira sobbed, pointing out into the field, and another woman pulled the first one into a hug.

"Right," Saphira sighed, crossing her arms. "So, the ground is covered in bombs that blow up once you step on the trigger, which could activate more of them, blowing the area up. Then there's the bomb on the other end of the field, that needs to be deactivated. Anything I missed?"

The others shook their heads. Saphira saw that they seemed to be all focused on her, that she was the leader. _Their last leader must have been blown up,_ Saphira mused _relying on me to keep them safe. Well, and Alpha needs to watch its pack, and until I find mine, this pack needs an Alpha._

"Okay, which one of you is good at deactivating bombs?" Saphira asked the group. The young man who spoke before stepped forward.

"None of us do, but I am good with technology," he said.

"Good enough. They rest of you, stay put," Saphira ordered.

"But how are you going to get across the minefield?" another young man asked.

"By flying," Saphira answered, a pair of golden, eagle wings unfolding from her back. She had transformed partially as she spoke, and her eyes became a golden-brown color. The group gasped, and Saphira could see hope and relief filling their eyes.

"A therian! A therian is amongst us!" a third woman cried, and all five humans bowed clumsily.

"Don't bow. Therians and humans are equal to one another, there will be no bowing to one another," Saphira said, rubbing her forehead, then turned to the young man that was accompanying her. "Ready for take-off?"

"Yes, miss," the young man said, and the two walked out of the cave. "The minefield starts there," he said, pointing to where the sand began having a reddish hue to it.

Saphira nodded, then with a few powerful wing beats, she was up in the air. Her bare feet transformed into a pair of powerful talons, which gripped the young man carefully by the arms. She flew the man clear over the minefield, her sharp eagle eyes spotting the slightest movement from one of the bodies, which was missing a leg.

Circling, she dropped off the young man by the bomb, she ordered "deactivate the bomb! I think I saw a survivor or two. When the young man nodded, the therian flew off, going back to where she saw the survivor.

Spotting the body, she circled a few times, checking for any trigger plates. When she saw none, she landed carefully on the ground, and knelt by the wounded man.

"You still alive?" Saphira muttered, placing two fingers by the man's neck, feeling a faint pulse. She could also see the rising and falling of the man's chest, which showed that he was breathing.

From her cloak, Saphira pulled out a tourniquet, and wrapped it tightly around the man's left leg, above the knee. The leg wasn't missing as Saphira first thought, but rather stuck under debris, which the therian moved carefully. There was a deep cut, which could disable the man.

Sighing, Saphira scooped the man up, one arm tucked under his leg and the other underneath the shoulder. Within a few wing beats, Saphira had carried the man over the field and towards the cave. She placed the man carefully on the ground, and the four remaining humans immediately surrounded him, but before any of them could say a word, the therian was off again.

By the time the young man was finished deactivating the bomb, Saphira had found one other survivor, who merely suffered a concussion, and brought back the remains of the others to be buried or burned, depending on how they do things here.

When Saphira and the young man returned to the cave, they saw doors leading out of the area, Jack Harkness leaning against the doors. Saphira immediately tackled Jack into a hug, relieved that someone she knew was there.

"Oh you can't believe how glad I am to see you," Saphira breathed, trembling slightly, "what the hell happened?"

"I'm sure the Doc will explain everything," Jack reassured her, then turned to the humans. "You guys got a safe place to go?"

"Yes sir," the young man who deactivated the bomb replied, "thank you for saving us miss."

"You're welcome," Saphira replied, following Jack out the doors.

They appeared in a huge, dark corridor, which was immediately lit up. Jack and Saphira blinked at the sudden brightness, and when her eyes were adjusted, she saw two words that nearly made her heart stop.

_Bad Wolf_

"Jack, look!" Saphira said, pointing to the words, "Bad Wolf follows us here."

"Come on, Doc's not far from us," Jack said, pulling the werewolf away. The two entered the elevator, Jack dialing the buttons on the left wall.

-Line Break-

"Hey, handsome, good to see you. Any sign of Rose?" Jack asked when they found the Doctor, along with a young woman.

"Can't you track her down?" the Doctor asked, "You did find Saphira."

"She must still be inside the games," Saphira replied, Jack nodded and adding.

"All the rooms are shielded."

"If I can just get inside this computer. She's got to be here somewhere," the Doctor said.

"Well you'd better hurry up, these games don't have a happy ending," Jack replied, taking off his Vortex Manipulator.

"You think I don't know that?" the Doctor snapped. Jack held his hands up in surrender, then held the VM to the Time Lord.

"There you go, patch that in. It's programmed to find her."

"Thanks."

"Hey, there," Jack said, spotting the young woman and holding his hand out.

"Hello," the woman greeted, shaking his head.

"Captain Jack Harkness."

"Lynda Moss."

"Nice to meet you, Lynda Moss."

"Do you mind flirting outside?" the Doctor asked, not looking up from his work.

"I was just saying hello."

"For you, that's flirting," both Saphira and the Doctor said.

"I'm not complaining," Lynda said.

"Muchas Gracias," Jack said, kissing her hand, earning an eyeroll from the werewolf.

"Stupid computer!" The Doctor barked, "it's not compatible. This stupid system doesn't make sense." He tossed the Vortex Manipulator to Lynda, who caught it, and began pulling the screen off, Jack helping him.

"This place should be a basic broadcaster. But the systems are twice as complicated," the Doctor explained as both he and Jack messed with the computer. "It's more than just television. This station's transmitting something else."

"Like what?" both therian asked.

"I don't know. This whole Bad Wolf thing's tied up with me. Someone's manipulated my entire life."

"Not just you, Doctor, but I think the rest of us too. Rose has seen it, I have, Mycroft and Jack both did too."

"Found her!" The Doctor shouted after a while of messing around, "Floor 407." Lynda gasped in horror.

"Oh my God! She's with the Anne Droid!" she cried. "You've got to get her out of there!" That sent the trio running, Lynda right at their heels. The flew into the elevator, the Doctor pounding in the numbers.

The elevator seemed to take forever, the Doctor yelling "Come on, come on!" as they traveled upwards. They watched in tense silence as the numbers kept increasing, floor 407 seeming so far away.

Finally, the elevator arrived on floor 407, and they were charging out.

"Game Room 6, which one is it?" the Doctor shouted.

"Over here!" Lynda replied, and the trio followed her to the door. Immediately, the Doctor began sonicking the door. The Anne Droid's voice echoing loudly into the corridor.

"Stand back, let me blast it open!" Jack held, holding his gun at the ready.

"You can't," the Doctor replied quickly, "it's a vital combination." He kept sonicing, muttering "come on" while the others waited tensely. Finally, the door opened, and the whole group went charging in.

"ROSE!" the Doctor shouted. "Stop this game! I order you to stop this game!"

"_You are the Weakest Link."_

"Look out for the Anne Droid, it's armed!" Rose shouted, making her way over to them. The Anne Droid turned its head, following Rose. Its mouth opened, and in the quick second before it fired, Saphira placed a shielding between Rose and the Anne Droid.

"_Goodbye."_ The beam shot out, easily shattering the shield and hitting Rose square in the back. Rose vanished in a flash of light, leaving nothing behind save for smoke and a pile of ash. And something inside Saphira _snapped_.

The Doctor knelt down, horror radiating off him, Jack charging past him. Lynda lingered in the background, unsure of what to do. Saphira stood there, seeing red, as her whole body underwent transformation.

When security arrived and tried to wrangle her, they were thrown back by a snarling werewolf with eyes glowing like the full moon. She stood protectively near the Time Lord, snapping and slashing at anyone who dared to come close.

She could not hear what was being said, she was so enraged. When bullets grazed past her, she charged at them, grabbing one in her powerful jaws and shaking him like a rag doll. A bullet hit her in the side, causing her to tumble and drop her victim. They clapped metal shackles around her wrists, ankles and neck, and stayed a distance back, holding the metal chains. Each time she leapt at on of them she was pulled back by the rest. She tried several times until she faintly heard Jack call her to stop.

She and the others were wrestled to a prison cell, the head of security being aggressive the entire time, even hurting poor Lynda. Saphira was kept chained down, but still snapped at anyone who dared come close, her silver eyes glowing.

"Can you tell us how you got on board?" the boss asked.

"Just leave him alone," Lynda defended the Time Lord. This made the boss grab her chin forcefully, causing Saphira to snarl. Jack put a hand on her head, and Saphira calmed a little.

"I'm asking him," the boss sneered, letting Lynda go and turning to the Time Lord. "Sir? Can you tell us who you are?"

-Line Break-

"You will be taken from this place to the Lunar Penal Colony, there to be held without trial. You may not appeal against this sentence. Is that understood?" the boss asked. There was no reply from any of them, so the boss turned to leave, opening the door.

"Let's do it," the Doctor said calmly. With a burst of energy, Saphira caused the metal shackles to break by transforming further into the Wolf. Jack punched and kicked the guards that charged at them, but they kept coming.

Saphira gave a roar at the humans, saliva flying from her mouth, her ears pinned back and her eyes glowing eerily. The humans began backing up, and when Jack grabbed the gun, they fled. The Doctor grabbed his sonic and the group headed out towards the elevator.

"Floor 500," the Time Lord instructed, Lynda punching in the numbers. Jack and the Doctor got the guns ready, Lynda grasping the werewolf's neck fur. The numbers kept going up as the group got ready. Finally, the elevator arrived on floor 500, and they marched out.

"Okay, move away from the desk," Jack instructed in a calm and ordering tone, "Nobody try anything clever. Everybody clear, stand to the side and stay there."

"Who's in charge of this place?" The Doctor asked the woman who was wired up to the computers, cocking the large gun. "This Satellite is more than a Game Station."

"...79, 80..." the woman counted.

"Who killed Rose Tyler?"

"All staff are reminded that..." "I want an answer!"

"She can't reply," one of the men said, and the Doctor swung the gun in his direction. They all jumped back, and the man yelped: "don't shoot!"

"Don't be so thick," the Doctor sneered, tossing the gun at the man, "like I was ever gonna shoot." He turned back towards the woman. "Captain, we've got more guards on the way up. Secure the exits."

"Yes, sir!"

"You!" the Doctor went on, turning towards the man that now held the gun. "What were you saying?"

"But I've got your gun," the man replied nervously.

"Okay, so shoot me. Why can't she answer?"

"She's...um... Can I put this down?"

"If you want, just hurry up."

"Thanks," the man said in relief, putting the gun down. "Sorry. The Controller is lined into the transmissions. The entire output goes through her brain. You're not a member of staff so she doesn't recognize your existence."

"What's her name?"

"I don't know. She was installed when she was five. It's the only life she's ever known."

"Doors sealed," Jack called. "We should be safe for about 10 minutes."

"Keep an eye on them!" the Time Lord ordered.

"What you were saying about the Game Station," the man went on, "I think you're right. I've kept a log. Unauthorized transmats, encrypted signals, it's been going on for years."

"Show me."

"You're not allowed in there," a woman shouted to Jack, "Archive 6 is out of bounds."

"Do I look like an out of bounds sort of guy?" Jack asked rhetorically, hoisting up both guns. He turned back to the door, which opened for him.

-Line Break-

"Solar flare activity in Delta .015," the Controller announced.

"If you're not holding us hostage, then open the doors and let us out," the woman instructed, "the staff are terrified."

"That's the same staff who execute hundreds of contestants every day?" The Doctor asked.

"We're just doing our jobs," the woman retorted.

"And with that sentence you just lost the right to even talk to me, now back off!" Saphira growled at her when she did not move, causing her to back off. The bullet wound was aching dully, and Lynda kept her arms wrapped around the werewolf's neck. Just them the power started going down, causing everyone to look around.

"That's just the solar flares. They interfere with the broadcast signal, so this place automatically powers down," the man told the group. "Planet Earth gets a few repeats. It's all quite normal."

"Doctor..." came the Controllers echo-y voice, almost ignored by all.

"Doctor?" the woman asked.

"Whatever it is, you can wait," came the reply.

"I think she wants you," she said, staring at the Controller.

"Doctor. Doctor. Where's the Doctor?" The Doctor jogged over to stand in front of the Controller.

"I'm here."

"Can't see. Blind, so blind. All my life, all I can see is numbers. But I saw you."

"What do you want?"

"Solar flares hiding me, they can't hear me. My Masters listen, but they can't hear me now. The sun is so bright."

"Who are your masters?"

"They wired my head, the name's forbidden. They control my thoughts. My Masters, I had to be careful. They monitor the transmission, but they don't watch the programmes. I could hide you in the games, I knew you would find me."

"My friend died inside your games."

"Doesn't matter."

"Don't you dare tell me that!"

"They've been hiding. My Masters, hiding in the dark space. Watching and shaping the Earth, so many years. Always been there, guiding humanity. Hundreds and hundreds of years."

"Who are they?"

"They wait and plan and grow in numbers, they're strong now. So strong, my Masters..."

"Who are they?"

"But speak of you, my Masters, they fear the Doctor..."

"Tell me, who are they?"

The Controller's head jerked back, and a loud crackling noise filled the air as everything came back to life. The Doctor turned towards the two staff members.

"When's the next solar flare?" he asked.

"Two years' time," the man replied, removing his headphones.

"Fat lot of good that is!" the Doctor snapped.

"Found the Tardis," Jack called, jogging out of Archive 6.

"We're not leaving now."

"No, but the Tardis worked it out. You'll wanna watch this," Jack said, almost eagerly, moving the man from his seat. "Lynda, could you stand over there for me, please?"

"I just want to go home," Lynda stammered, clinging the werewolf's fur tighter. Saphira gave Lynda a nudge and a reassuring look, telling her she could trust Jack.

"It'll only take a second. Could you stand in that spot? Quick as you can." Lynda jogged to the spot Jack indicated. "Everybody watching? Okay, 3, 2, 1..." A beam of light hit Lynda and she vanished the same way Rose did.

"But you killed her," the Doctor said, looking at Jack.

"Oh? Do you think?" Jack asked, pressing another button. A beam of light appeared next to the Doctor, and Lynda reappeared.

"What the hell was that?" Lynda asked, rubbing her head.

"It's a transmat beam. Not a disintegrator," Jack explained. "A secondary transmat system. People don't get killed in the games. They get transported across space. Doctor, Saphira, Rose is still alive!"

The Doctor gave a gleeful laugh, hugging Jack. Saphira bounded up to them, tail wagging furiously, and licking the two men. Her eyes had receded to a normal golden-amber tone now that she knew that Rose was not dead.

-Line Break-

"She's out there somewhere!" The Doctor shouted as the two men bounced around the desk, a few of the staff having returned to the desk. Lynda was once again clinging to the werewolf, feeling safe by Saphira.

"Doctor! Coordinates 5.6.1." The Controller shouted.

"Don't! The solar flare's gone, they'll hear you!" The Doctor shouted as he punched in the numbers the Controller gave.

"...434. No, my Masters, no, I defy you!" The Controller shouted "Sigma 77..." she screamed as the transmat beam hit her, cables falling.

"They took her."

-Line Break-

"Use this, it might contain the final numbers," the man said, giving Jack a disk, "I've kept a log of all the unscheduled transmissions."

"Nice, thanks," Jack said, "Captain Jack Harkness, by the way."

"I'm Davitch Pavale," Davitch replied.

"Nice to meet you, Davitch Pavale!"

"There's a time and a place," the Doctor interrupted.

"Are you saying this whole setup's been a disguise all along?" the woman asked.

"Going way back," the Doctor replied, "installing the Jagrafess 100 years ago. You were still out for that adventure, Saphira." The werewolf gave a huff in reply. "Someone's been playing a long game. Controlling the human race from behind the scenes for generations."

"Click on this," Jack said, holding an instrument up to the Time Lord. The Doctor took the object, held it up to where the Controller was, and clicked it. A screen appeared, showing a view from space. Saphira identified the Horse-head Nebula on the lower left-hand corner of the screen.

"Transmat delivers to that point, right on the edge of the solar system," Jack clarified.

"There's nothing there," the woman pointed out.

"It looks like nothing because that's what this Satellite does!" The Doctor explained. "Underneath the transmission, there's another signal."

"Doing what?" Davitch asked.

"Hiding whatever's out there. Hiding it from sonar, radar, scanners. There's something sitting right on top of planet Earth, but it's completely invisible." The Doctor bent over the computer. "If I cancel the signal..." he pressed a few buttons, and a large ship filled the screen.

There was silence in the room, all eyes fixed on the screen as it zoomed out, showing hundreds more of the same ship, only smaller.

"That's impossible," Jack said, turning to the Doctor. "I know those ships. They were destroyed."

"Obviously they survived," the Doctor replied.

"Who did? Who are they?" Lynda asked, her eyes never leaving the screen.

"200 ships. More than 2,000 on board each one. That's just half a million of them."

"Half a million what?" Davitch asked.

"Daleks."

The screen flickered, and the interior of the ship appeared, showing Rose surrounded by Daleks. This image sent Saphira's hackles rising, and a growl resonated deep in her throat.

"_I will talk to the Doctor,_" one of the Daleks said in its familiar, monotonic and robotic voice.

"Oh, will you? That's nice. Hello!" the Doctor replied sarcastically.

"_The Dalek Stratagem nears completion. The Fleet is almost ready. You will not intervene."_

"Oh, really? Why's that, then?" the Doctor asked.

"_We have your associate._ _You will obey or she will be exterminated."_

"No," The Doctor replied, and all heads turned to look at the Time Lord.

"_Explain yourself."_

"I said, no."

"_What is the meaning of this negative?"_

"It means no."

"But she will be destroyed!"

"No! 'Cause this is what I'm gonna do. I'm going to rescue her. I'm gonna save Rose Tyler from the middle of the Dalek Fleet. And then I'm gonna save the Earth. And then, just to finish off, _I'm gonna wipe every last stinking Dalek out of the sky!_"

"_But you have no weapons! No defenses! No plan!"_

"Yeah. And doesn't that scare you to death?" The Doctor asked. "Rose?"

"Yes, Doctor?"

"I'm coming to get you."

**A/N: Wow, this is one dialog heavy episode. Final chapter coming soon!**

**Please leave a review, and constructive criticism is welcomed. Flames will be used to roast marshmallows for s'mores, and trolls, go back from whence you came!**


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